Walton Wins Sixth Man Award

1985-86 Boston Celtics

Both Bill Walton, the recipient of the Starter-NBA Six Man award, and the Boston Celtics, who took a chance on him despite his medical history, are happy the way things worked out. On a scale of 1 to 10, being with the Celtics is a 25," said Walton, whose career has been marred by injuries since he anchored Portland's 1977 league championship team. Coming here was the best thing that could have happened to me."

Walton, a three-time all-American and two-time college basketball player of the year - who led UCLA to the NCAA championship in 1972 and 1973 - was acquired last September from the Los Angeles Clippers for Cedric Maxwell and Boston's first-round choice in the 1986 draft. He played in a career-high 80 games this season as the Celtics won the Atlantic Division title.

I feel rejuvenated," Walton explained. I wake up every day thinking about basketball." Walton, who missed three full seasons and most of a fourth with a recurring foot injury, played in all but two games for Boston.

Walton is the latest in a long line of sixth men for the Celtics. Among those who played that role as Boston won 15 NBA titles were Frank Ramsey and John Havlicek. Prior to Walton's arrival, the sixth man was Kevin McHale. But McHale - the award winner the last two seasons - became a starter at forward and responded by scoring 21.3 points per game.

Walton averaged 7.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.33 blocked shots per game for the Atlantic Division champions this season. The 12-year veteran received 32 votes from a nationwide panel of 78 media members.