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    Bill Plaschke: Bill Walton's kindness and wonderful wackiness made us the grateful ones

    Fittingly, my favorite Bill Walton encounter involved only his voice. It was in October 2000, the day before John Wooden's 90th birthday. I was visiting with Coach in his modest Encino condo when the phone rang and the answering machine picked up. Suddenly the room was filled with a familiar deep and gravelly singing from across the globe. "Happy birthday to you ... happy birthday to you ... ...
    by Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times May 28, 2024 4 minutes
    Sportscaster and former NBA player Bill Walton attends a game between the Washington Huskies and the USC Trojans during the Pac-12 Conference basketball tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Arena on March 10, 2022, in Las Vegas.

    Fittingly, my favorite Bill Walton encounter involved only his voice.

    It was in October 2000, the day before John Wooden's 90th birthday. I was visiting with Coach in his modest Encino condo when the phone rang and the answering machine picked up.

    Suddenly the room was filled with a familiar deep and gravelly singing from across the globe.

    "Happy birthday to you ... happy birthday to you ... happy birthday from Australia..."

    Wooden smiled.

    "Oh, that's Bill Walton," he said.

    The song ended, but Walton was just getting started. Still on the answering machine, just a voice coming from a box, he began describing the weather

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