One basketball legend paid tribute to another as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote a moving farewell for his longtime friend and competitor, Bill Walton.
Walton died on Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer. During the 1970s, he and Abdur-Jabbar were two of the sport’s shining stars, as they both played for John Wooden at UCLA and went on to become generational talents in the NBA for their respective franchises.
With the news of Walton’s passing, Abdul-Jabbar powerfully memorialized the late basketball icon as “the best of us” in a Twitter (X) post on Monday afternoon.
“My very close friend, fellow Bruin, and NBA rival Bill Walton died today,” Abdul-Jabbar said in his post. “And the world feels so much heavier now.
“On the court, Bill was a fierce player, but off the court he wasn’t happy unless he did everything he could to make everyone around him happy. He was the best of us.”
Today I had to say goodbye to
a great friend that I will always miss….@UCLAAthletics @UCLAMBB @NBA pic.twitter.com/JIA3sORJgY— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) May 27, 2024
