12 IN THESE TIMES APRIL 27-MAY 3,1977 : A total team player

By Jack Scott Bill woke from his nap and seated him- self in the rocking chair between the huge It was about midnight and I was doz- stereo speakers in our living room. His ing on the living room couch when the favorite Grateful Dead album blaring voice of Bob Dylan blaring from a jeep from the speakers, Bill rocked slowly to rumbling down our driveway jarred me the music, gathering himself together for awake. Bill Walton, one of my house- the game that was now less than two hours mates, was arriving home after spending away. He had quietly slipped out of the an evening with his new teammate, Maur- house and was making the five-minute ice Lucas. Luke had arrived in Portland drive to Memorial Coliseum when Herb only that afternoon, a few days before the and I looked up from our conversation a opening of training camp, and he and few minutes later. Bill were meeting for the first time. The volume at which Bill listens to ^•Meanness not dependent on meat. music usually reflects his emotional state, The high of the game for the 76ers and tonight was no exception. He was was their warm-ups. Their never-ending flying high and the magic potion was no- assortment of trick shots, flying slam thing but pure adrenalin. dunks and other spectacular maneuvers "I'm pumped, I'm pumped," he re- brought more "oh"s, "ah"s and applause peated over and over as he paced the liv- than would sometimes be heard during ing room clenching his fists and flexing an entire Blazer game only a year ago. his upper torso. At one point he stretched Once the game began, however, it was wide his arms and a wild growl of joy another story. The Blazers came out fly- roared from his mouth. ing. Lucas and Bill were sweeping the A Jialf-hour and a few beers later he defensive boards and instantly firing out- had relaxed enough to communicate in let passes to the streaking guards, Holling sentences: "Luke is great. I just wish the and Twardzik, or to Bobby Cross, the season started tomorrow. We're going team's "small" forward. The defense to have a damn good team.'' was tough and aggressive. Seven other new players joined the , or "Train" as he is this year, and Bill's called by his teammates, is a second-year exuberance about the coming season grew player .out of Arizona State who is rap- i as he met each of them. "This is the way idly developing into one of the finer it was in college," he kept saying in the guards in the NBA. He quickly hit a jump- days before training camp opened. er over Doug Collins from the top of the "These are the kind of guys I'm used to key to give the Blazers a 2 to 0 lead, which playing with. This is going to be fun." they would only increase for the rest of the game. Maurice Lucas then proceeded to _ *-The Grateful Dead blaring. score seven straight points, giving the Two months later, on the 2nd of Novem- Blazers a 9-0 lead. ber, the Blazers had won the fourth of Luke is a superb all-around player and their first five regular season NBA games the team's "enforcer." Gentle and humble by beating the . The com- off the court, he plays with a ferocity rare- ing Friday, Nov. 5, had a special mean- ly seen in football, never mind . ing for those of us who share a home in He's a vegetarian and the world's exam- Portland. Bill would be celebrating his ple that "meanness" is not dependent 24th birthday. On top of that, Dr. J. and on eating meat. the would be in town for a game with the Blazers. Mkiuld have beaten anybody. Photos by Ancil Nance Erving, who regularly defies the laws Though behind 9-0, the 76ers were ob- of gravity, had only recently joined the viously still not out of it. It was a few 76ers. There was serious talk around the minutes later in the first period when per- Bill's advocacy of causes isn't just league that, once his team hit stride, they haps the key play of the game occurred. just might cruise through the rest of the Bobby Gross, the most underrated player a sideline with him—you see his regular season unbeaten—or at least not on the Blazer team, did an outstanding lose any games the Dr. and his teammate job on Erving most of the night, but there values even on the basketball court. Mr. McGinnis took seriously. is no one in basketball who can consist- Bill and I were lingering over a late ently stop Dr. J. Gross got too close to lunch, and I was on his case about how Erving, and with his quick step the Dr. The way he and his teammates get it the 76ers were going to blow the Blazers was by Gross and driving for the basket off the court. "The honeymoon will be along the left baseline with no one be- on—when they are at their best— over Friday night. You'll be lucky if you tween him and an easy lay-up. can keep up with . If Luke Bill, who seems to have a sixth sense shows what can happen when is hot he might be able to play McGinnis that almost always allows him to be aware even. But Bobby Gross better get a good of what is happening everywhere on the look at the Dr. before the game starts be- court, spotted Julius and came flying people work together in a selfless, cause it will be the last time he'll see him." across the key to pick him up. They both Bill gave me one of his tolerant smiles. left the floor simultaneously. As he so cooperative manner. "You'll see." often does, Julius hung on the air, swit- Bill's routine on the day of a home game ched the ball from one hand to the other is pretty consistent. About 9 a.m., after and then did one of his patented "dou- the usual fight over the morning news- ble pumps." Incredibly for a player his paper, he eats a breakfast that normally size, Bill somehow managed to hang up includes a huge vegetable omelette, toast, there with Erving. potatoes and about a quart of freshly Julius was finally forced to shoot, and squeezed orange juice. The Blazers have Bill forcefully rejected the shot. The a light practice around 11 even on game crowd instantly broke into thunderous days. After practice, Ron Gulp, the applause and stomping unlike anything I Author Jack Scott (The team's hardworking trainer, usually ad- had ever heard in two and a half years of Athletic Revolution) ministers ice packs to Bill's almost always watching Blazer home games. The first and Bill Walton taking aching knees. Around three Bill comes quarter ended with the Blazers leading home for a pre-game meal of soup, salad 41-24! The tempo was set, and the Blaz- a walk in Portland, and a rice and veggies casserole. He naps ers breezed to a 146-104 victory. where they share a from about four to six and does not eat The game was one of those rare athle- house. Scott says, "It again until after the game. tic events that anyone who participated was our mutual interest On the afternoon of the 76ers game, or watched will most likely never forget. in sports and shared writer Herb Kohl was at the house talk- George McGinnis twice emphasized after political and personal ing about a book he's doing on the ritu- the game that the Blazers were awesome. values that prompted als athletes and other performers _ go He then spoke about Bill. "Walton did my decision to share a through to psych themselves up for their everything, and he did it within a team home with Bill." work. In the midst of our conversation, concept—that's what impressed me. He's

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IN THESE TIMES APRIL 27-MAY 3,1977 13

a total team pJayci," Af.d the highest 10 of his teammates sent a telegram to words of praise came fiosr. the Dr. him-. Nixon urging him to resign. During his self. '•'-Tonight, they ccUrl have beaten freshman year at UCLA, he gave a talk anybody thai evei played ths game." in a speech class about what he belisved was the conspiracy and political motiva- **lhs Ki».*? attack mi a white •'AiuiSe. tion behind the assassination of President Gran ~.*_nnot u.:1p but Icok back with Kennedy. amusement on the pro/isuriSCTient Sports /HhSi-'steG mace t^vo -yssrs ago: "All ^Outrages Rotarians. things oo:'.sir:-rnr' ,,vya.?.o:::.!s gone too An experience Bill had shortly after join- Jic.f to ''-action in ;hs NBA sgain." The ing the Trail Blazers brought home to him arvxcaf: ;>/ss vi.';;.Y5r.ec-°p.;sc !r. S./.'s history how different his new environment was fcv tiie Y?.eis~o.s:,:.5ss c" 'is attack on an going to be compared to his days at sthU-tt. UCLA. Early in his first season as a pro, Tb-, £ J. g,;-::ir:Is \vss "ci~3¥/ed by a fea- Bill tried to oblige Blazer management ture story in "he Sunday Afei/v yJsss'j him because weighed too little, and then when he put he feit Gilbert's aiose personal relation- on some pounds by lifting weights before shijss with NBA owners interfered with his second season, they wondered out loud his propR.iy ;r.pisgent5«g players' inter- whether he was now too heavy. Many out- ests . standing centers in the NBA were both The 'fifnes story was w?.df,ly picked up, heavier and lighter than Bill, but since and its false accussticas v/src reported in they were meat eaters, no one ever ques- hundreds of newspapers throughout the tioned their diets. country. Sandy Pariwa. s. veteran sports And when Bill began to make public editor a aw at Nsvssdsy, daimed the at- pronouncements about the criminal ac- tack on Bill was the worst on a white ath- tivities of the FBI, Dick Nixon and John lete in the history of American sport. Mitchell and Co., all hell broke loose. "The only contemporary athlete who ex- Suddenly his fitness to participate in pro- perienced what Walton did at the hands fessional athletics was questioned. This of the press was AJ%'; Pai'v^;; told me. was happening at a time when one of the But while soorts sxpert: were announ- stars of professional baseball was known cing Bill's demise during the past two to have murdered a woman and when years, raost players and coaches within Ernie Holmes of the Steelers the game were not deceived. In an inter- had spent an afternoon taking target prac- view \vi.tli a Philadelphia newspaper two tice at police with his 30-30. But an out- years ago, lony before he ex'er dreamed spoken social activist who talked about he might someday be Bill's teammate, solar energy, pollution and socialism responded to the media was another matter. criticism of Bill. "They keep saying He's s: a weird kid, Corky told the writer. "But During Bill's first two years he also had Bill Walton is play ing again with the skill, exuberance and joy that characterized he's a human being like everyone else. A to hear numerous theories about why he his college career.. As a result, the Portland Trail Blazers have a shot at the NBA tot of players in the NBA feel like he was so often injured. Dr. Bob Cook, championship. docs."* the Blazer team physician, says there is had this to say when ques- an obvious medical explanation for most himself exhausted after three days, and He never gave up hope, and now that he tioned about Bill ovev a year ago: "Hey, of the injuries that plagued Bill his first all he had to do was turn out four para- is able to concentrate all his energy on if that kid is my teammate and comes to two seasons, and it has nothing to do graphs a day! Postgame dinner at mid- basketball while on the court, he is once play bail every night, I don't care if he with his vegetarianism, political activism night, to sleep at three, to the airport at again performing with skill, exuberance wants to eat hickory nuts or sit around in or lifestyle—the three things most often six, workout at 10, an afternoon nap, and joy that characterized his college car- the sun. lie's a great team player. If Port- singled out by many writers and sports- and then...you're looking at Kareem Ab- eer. land doesn't want him, we'll take him." casters. dul Jabbar. It's why you don't win much Bill hasn't been as politically active this An early summer knee operation that on the road. It's why, when you're play- season, compared to his first two years, B^Hes environment prevented Bill from doing any serious ing injured, you don't really get well un- since, not being injured, most of his time As a professional basketball player, the running for several months forced him til the season's over. is taken up with basketball. But our whole environment Bill found himself working to enter his rookie year in less than top household helped pull together a Jackson in was bound to create adjustment prob- physical condition. Soon his seemingly *-More trouble in second year. Browne benefit concert on Feb. 4 at the lems after what, he was used to at UCLA. endless string of injuries began. An injury Bill rested at the end of his first season Paramount. The concert was a benefit for Bill spent his four years at UCLA dur- that would sideline him for awhile, but just long enough to allow his body to groups working to educate people about ing the late 1960s and early '70s, when he would be rushed back into action be- heal and then began grueling daily train- the dangers of the nuclear power industry. the environment there was extremely sup- cause of his crucial value to the team. In ing sessions that he thrived on. Frequently Bill has also been supporting the belea- portive of someone with his values. Pro- pro basketball, the treatment for a brok- he devoted eight to ten hours a day to guered teachers and students of-Colegip fessors, students and other athletes ad- en nose is to breathe through your mouth. physical activity. He was in splendid con- Cesar Chavez, who are struggling to keep mired him just as much for Ms social con- Bill's injuries were more serious than dition until he broke his foot on a lawn the federal government from foreclosing sciousness as they did for his athletic ac- that, but he played hard all the same. In sprinkler chasing a frisbee a week before their college at Mt. Angel. complishments. fact, Bill plays with a joy and abandon training camp opened. His conditioning Bill's advocacy of causes isn't just a Bill was arrested for a sit-in at the seldom seen in the pros, moving his mas- deteriorated while his foot was healing so sideline with him—you see his values even UCI.A administration building protest- sive frame around the court as if he were that the injury cycle of his first NBA sea- on the basketball court. The way he and ing the mining of Haiphong harbor in one of the' 'little guys.'' son repeated itself much of his second his teammates get it on—when they are the -spring of his sophomore year. When When you play that way in a game that, year. at their best—shows what can happen asked why he took an action that might for physical contact, makes college basket- A broken nose, wrist, foot and leg— when people work together in a selfless, jeopardise his basketball career, he re- ball look like the Dance of the Sugarplum along with several severely dislocated cooperative manner. "I appreciate your sponded, "I've been brought up all my Fairy, you are naturally going to be "in- fingers—are only some of the injuries Bill insistence on the team—your deflection life to be peaceful and respect my fellow jury prone." And when you put this kind suffered his first two years with the Blaz- of praise from yourself to your team- man. So when I see my government an- of stress on muscles, bones and ligaments ers. One could safely say he played hurt mates working as a unit," a fan wrote nihilating a whole souxifey, I just have to that are already fatigued, unhealed, you most of the time. Federal Court Judge him after the 76ers game. "You handled do something,:s get into an "injury cycle." Robert Belloni sent a note to Bill saying, the interview after last night's game mar-- He has often spokeis oat about racism The Blazer schedule includes 82 per- "The 'guts' you displayed by playing velously—managing to mention the name in our society, particularly as it relates to formances. Some weeks it's a nightly your heart out while in extreme pain was of every other player on the team.... I like his own career. "I think I've gotten twice grind, with a thousand or two miles to a real inspiration to a lot of young and seeing you bring your politics to your as much publicity as ! deserve because I'm cover in between games. Road trips are old people alike." workplace." the 'Great White Hope5 is a game that surreal: "If it's Tuesday, this must be Most Blazer fans were perceptive has been dominated by blacks." Boston." A Portland sportswriter who enough to appreciate Bill's effort, but An earlier, longer version of this article In the early days of Watergate, Bill and travelled with the Blazers recently found few are aware of his incredible patience. appeared in the Oregon Times.

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14 IN THESE TIMES APRIL 27-MAY 3,1977

Editorial A slap on the wrist for racists The outcome of the Camp Pendleton incident, so far, (see page 7, and ITT, Jan. 5), is that ten black marines face court martial, while 12 white marines have been transferred from the base, and two dis- charged. The black marines are in danger of going off to jail; the white marines are free of further jeopardy or punishment and are even suing for damages. Blacks must_suffer the ordeal of court martial; while white racists get a gentle slap on the wrists. Left and liberal anti-racists should be on the offensive, moving decisively against racism and for democratization in the armed services, in the wake of the Pendleton situation. Instead, they are once again on the defensive and, for all their sincere intent, good support efforts, and militant eloquence, are falling short of their political obligations. Those obligations go beyond the ne- cessary and important tasks of raising the outcry against racism and organizing in defense of the black defendants. They involve as well grasping the Camp Pen- dleton situation to organize a sustained effort at a comprehensive reordering of military policy and procedure suited to achieving racial equality and democra- tizing reforms in the armed services, vices. The Naval Investigative Services report provides added strength to an anti-racist offensive. It documents a pattern of or- ganized illegal activity, by racists at Camp Pendleton and other marine bases, includ- ing on-base and off-base harassment and assaults on black marines and civilians, ar- son, criminal tampering with automobiles with intent to injure or kill, and a general strategy to deny blacks their fundamental rights and the equal protection of the law. More than this, the report demonstrates that the marine command, in denying, The Camp Pendleton affair should become more than another in a failing to act against, and then trying to cover up, this illegal organized racist ac- long series of defenses against unequal treatment of blacks and their tivity, is culpable of dereliction of duty, subjection to racial attacks ...It should also signify the beginning if not felony, by virtue either of compli- city or incompetence.- Indeed, there is of a movement to eradicate racism in the armed services. evidence suggesting that the company commander and battalion executive offi- cer were involved in Klan activity in agree- South where officers of the law and poli- words, are grossly underrepresented stringent legislation guaranteeing full poli- ing to use Klan members as a network of ticians were in league with Klan and other among officers, receive less training and tical rights of service personnel, equal informers on black and politically pro- racists hi abridging blacks' right, assault- fewer promotions, suffer more court treatment and opportunities, including gressive personnel. ing and even murdering them with impun- Imartials and imprisonment, and have a substantially higher recruitment of ity. The Camp Pendleton situation is wov- higher risk of death in combat. blacks and members of other minorities *>Naval report not enough. en in the same pattern. They acted justi- into officer ranks. But the Naval report can not be relied fiably (however injudiciously) in vindi- M movement to eradicate racism. •Among such legislation should be upon to change things significantly. Its cating their rights in the absence of pro- The Camp Pendleton affair should be- measures requiring all services to insti- very title, "Racist Extremist/Dissident tection by lawful military or civil auth- come more than another in the long ser- tute educational programs, as part of Group Activities," suggests an intent to ority. When people cannot rely upon law- ies of defenses against unequal treatment basic training, teaching principles of .lib- abridge political rights of service person- ful authority to protect their rights and of blacks and their subjection to racial erty and equality as essential to demo- nel and otherwise to avoid any but the persons, the authorities must be held re- attacks and undue legal process. It should cracy and their defense and protection as most superficial adjustments. It implies sponsible if they take the law into their also become a benchmark signifying the the highest purpose of military service. that illegal activities by racists, including own hands. * beginning of the movement to eradicate • Congress should be pressed to provide officers, are in some way equivalent to racism in the armed services and to demo- that officers that do not rigorously en- altogether legal activities of "dissidents," •••The context cratize them. The one requires the other. force racial equality or punish perpetrat- though the latter are sanctioned by the The racist attacks on blacks' life and lib- We think left and liberal anti-racists ors of illegal racist activities be court-mar- 1971 order wrested from then Defense erty at Camp Pendleton come in the con- should organize to see that the following tialed or discharged. Culpable service Secretary Melvin Laird and authorizing text of an old pattern of unequal treat- steps are taken: secretaries should be replaced or im- legal political activity by military per- ment. In 1974 61.5 percent of enlisted •The 12 transferred white marines peached. sonnel. blacks were in the bottom three grades, should be brought back to Pendleton to • Support should be given to, and Con- The report may foreshadow a move, to as against only 31 percent of enlisted stand trial for their illegal activities. gress should be pressed to authorize, the use the Camp Pendleton affair to rescind whites. One-third of all court-martial •All officers complicit in illegal racist organization of service personnel unions political rights of service personnel under' defendants and one-third of all military- activities by either overt act or dereliction as a good way of bringing military peo- cover of being "fair" by putting an end prison inmates were black, even though of duty, should be brought to trial and, ple together across racial, ethnic and cul- to "extremist" political activity on the blacks comprised only 16 percent of mili- if guilty, punished. tural lines, for common democratic pur- "right" and the "left." tary personnel. Blacks received less-than- •The American Civil Liberties Union poses. The acts of the ten black defendants honorable discharges at twice the rate of should consider pressing for these two As we have stated before (ITT, Jan. cannot be equated with the illegal racist whites. measures as vigorously as it is now aid- 19), civil rights and civil liberties are in- activity to which they were responding. Blacks comprised 18 percent of marine ing in the defense of the ten black marines. divisible. The black marines acted as victims of as- personnel generally and at Pendleton. Yet The trial and punishment of those violat- sault, intimidation, criminal conspiracy, 26 percent of the combat units, and 23 ing civil rights are essential to the main- People who would like to aid in the de- and unequal treatment, to vindicate their percent of service and supply units" were tenance and strengthening of civil liber- fense of the ten black defendants now rights and protect their lives and property, black, while only 10.3 percent and 5.4 ties. facing court martial may write for in- in the face of indifference or complicity percent of the equipment repair and elec- •Congress should be pressed to open a formation or send donations to The by vested authority. tronics units were black. full-scale investigation of racism in the Camp Pendleton Defense Fund, P.O. Most of the defendants grew up in the Black military personnel, in other armed services with a view to passing Box 2235, Oceanside, Calif., 92054.

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