“Rest In Paradise”: LeBron James Pays Homage To Late Bill Walton, Who Warned Lakers Star Of Lifelong Misery

Bill Walton took his last breaths on Monday at the age of 71, after his long and hard battle with cancer. Walton was a visionary, and many personalities – he was a legendary basketball player for UCLA, an NBA champion for the Trail Blazers, an activist, and protestor against the Vietnam War, a support system for the Celtics for their 1986 championship, a distinguished broadcaster, and a proud father of basketball progenies.

His passing shook the world when it was announced right before Game 4 of the Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Everyone from around the world and the NBA fraternity came in to share their stories to glorify the truly prolific life he has led. Former President of the United States Barack Obama, Charles Barkley, GSW’s Steph Curry, his HC Steve Kerr, and even the legendary Magic Johnson couldn’t help but share their condolences on his passing. Including all the names is the Lakers superstar, LeBron James.

In his final goodbye to the legend, James reposted the Portland Trail Blazers’ special tribute video on his X handle and wrote, “REST IN PARADISE BIG RED,” along with a heart emoji. Apart from James, plenty of stars expressed their condolences in heartfelt messages to the 2x NBA Champion.

Importantly, LeBron James had a special connection with the late Bill Walton, especially after he predicted the superstar’s fate in 2005. Three years into his rookie season, James showed his potential to the NBA world and sustained his ‘Next big thing’ image throughout. However, he had an important issue, which was the lack of a supporting cast.

Highlighting the superstar’s Cavs teammates, Walton said, “His teammates are letting him down right now. They don’t have any team spirit. They don’t have any concept of playing together… Need a completely new team around him which should be foot soldiers around LeBron to do all the dirty work,” in a television interview.

Apart from that, he also suggested the Cavs take inspiration from the Chicago Bulls‘ efforts to build a fresh team around Michael Jordan. Moreover, two years after Bill Walton made this take, King James led the Cavs to their first-ever NBA Finals in their franchise history. However, they couldn’t cross the line at that time.

Does Bill Walton’s take still haunt LeBron James?

While LeBron James struggled with a weak supporting cast in the early stages of his career, he did have a super team later. Especially during his stint with the Miami Heat, paired up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the team went on to win two back-to-back in three Finals.

Moreover, he also helped the Cavaliers win their first-ever championship after he teamed up with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving in 2016. Notably, between the period of 2011-2018, the superstar appeared in every single NBA Finals and won three of them. Later, he again appeared in 2020, representing the Lakers, and won his fourth ring.

However, the superstar seemed to have returned to square one with his current team. The 39-year-old has definitely slowed down a bit compared to his yesteryears but has become a much-improved player in terms of basketball IQ. The star’s team-up with Anthony Davis fetched him a ring in 2020, but that team had a star supporting cast like Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard.

Currently, the Lakers don’t have the strong supporting cast to help Bron and AD chase their second ring together. The team vested their trust in D’Angelo Russell. The star point guard did show his class in the regular season but failed to make an impact on the playoffs. And the same goes with Rui Hachimura. Will the Lakers find a better-supporting cast to help Bron get another ring? Let us know in the comments.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow in what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.