Bill Walton Claims He Was The Inspiration For Chewbacca

Getty Image/2oth Century Studios

You’re always in for a fun time when you tune into a college basketball game featuring Bill Walton on the mic, and he treated viewers to yet another incredible moment on Thursday night by asserting he was a major influence on an iconic Star Wars character.

Bill Walton has spent more than a decade providing color commentary for college basketball games on ESPN alongside his longtime play-by-play partner Dave Pasch, who’s had a front-row seat to the many bizarre tangents and surreal moments his colleague has been responsible for over the years.

If you tune into a basketball game expecting the broadcasters to exclusively talk about basketball, you’re probably not going to be a huge fan of Walton’s approach, but I have a hard time believing there are many people out there who can’t at least appreciate the chaotically eccentric energy the retired big man injects into every contest he works.

Thursday night’s edition of the program commonly referred to as “Pac-12 After Dark” featured Walton and Pasch covering the showdown between Oregon and USC, and when you consider the Ducks had a 16-point lead with around 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, it’s hard to blame the duo for briefly turning their attention to a different topic.

In the closing minutes of the game, ESPN cut to a shot of the $1.5 billion museum George Lucas is currently constructing across the street from USC (his alma mater), and Pasch decided there was no better time to ask Walton to confirm a rumor that claimed he’d auditioned for the part of Chewbacca in Star Wars.

Walton was playing at USC when the original Star Wars was in preproduction, and he apparently crossed paths with the driving force behind the film before it became one of the most successful projects in cinematic history, saying:

“Chewbacca is modeled after me. 

George Lucas is as cool as they get. I remember the night George, Kareem, Bill Russell, and me were all up in San Fransisco at a big fundraiser for the Martin Luther King memorial. 

I auditioned for Chewbacca, and they said, ‘No, but we’re gonna model the character after you.'”

I tend to take most things Walton has to say with a grain of salt, but it’s hard to deny he did sort of look like Chewbacca back in the day (although it does seem like Lucas’ dog was the primary inspiration for a character that evolved a fair amount prior to filming).

The role eventually went to the 7’3″ Peter Mayhew, and when you consider Walton probably would’ve had to put his NBA career on hold to play the part, it seems like it all worked out for both men.