NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton is an American national treasure. When ESPN puts him on the air for a Pac-12 college hoops game, he becomes the spectacle more than the game itself. Last night Bill Walton was providing color commentary for the Colorado-Arizona with Jay Bilas, who awesomely mocked Walton by rocking a tie-dye Grateful Dead shirt in the booth. It became a long, strange trip mighty fast:
This is pure television gold, although I expected Bill Walton to be the odd dresser of the bunch. pic.twitter.com/69g6oYyGu2
— Evan Budrovich (@evanbud) January 16, 2015
Walton apparently brought along a Grateful Dead talisman for the booth:
Bill Walton adding some flavor to the broadcasting scenery. pic.twitter.com/b6OnKSKTTb
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) January 16, 2015
And of course, he said some ridiculous things, like Shane Battier — who Walton said can be president just the other week — getting “high enough on his own”
And of course, the conversation inevitable turned to marijuana being legalized in Colorado:
And then things got REALLY weird. Walton started handed out gifts in the booth. He gave Jay Bilas a Jerry Garcia book, then he handed a copy of Charles Darwein’s “Origin of Species” to his sidekick David Pasch, stating: “I want to make sure you believe in evolution.”
Apparently Pasch doesn’t.
A long, strange trip indeed. Never change, Bill Walton. Arizona beat Colorado, 68 – 54.