John Calipari pays tribute to Bill Walton after basketball legend's passing

Arkansas head coach John Calipari paid tribute to his friend and basketball legend Bill Walton, after the latter passed at 71 Monday.

Walton succumbed to a battle with cancer Monday, putting the entire sports world in mourning. Calipari was particularly grateful for who Walton was as a player and broadcaster in the game of basketball.

He took to social media to honor the late legend.

“I just got word my friend, and basketball great in every sense of the word, Bill Walton passed away,” Calipari wrote on Twitter. “He gave more to the game of basketball than anyone I know, and his Coach Wooden stories were legendary. Bill was always great to me, and even spent time speaking to Oscar Tshibwe and gave him great insight. He’s going to be missed tremendously by the basketball community. Thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

The former UCLA star and 1974 No. 1 overall draft pick won a pair of NBA championships during his playing career — in 1977 as the centerpiece of the Trail Blazers, and in 1986 as the sixth man for one of the great Celtics teams. Plus, he also won the 1978 MVP.

Unfortunately, he battled injuries throughout his career, resulting in more than 30 surgeries mostly on his ankles and feet. Such setbacks ultimately kept him from remaining in his late-70s form for very long, but at his peak, Walton was the very best player in the NBA for a brief moment.

At UCLA, Walton was also the best player for a time and won three consecutive National Player of the Year awards while also leading the Bruins to back-to-back national titles. He was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player after both seasons.

Bill Walton played in the NBA from 1974-1988, ending his career with the Boston Celtics after he had helped them win the title in ’86. After ’88, though, he was forced to retire from basketball due to his overwhelming number of injury issues.

Despite a career marred by health problems, Walton is still on the NBA’s list of their 50 greatest players. Few players have ever been as successful as Walton at both the college and professional level.

Alex Weber contributed to this report