Bill Walton was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in 1985-86. Lest you think this is just some throw-away award bestowed on the league's best scrub, but still not someone worthy of starting or capable of making an impact, let us return to the only two regular season games that mattered. I'm talking, of course, about the Lakers-Celtics contests.
In both games Walton dominated Kareem. At the Gahden, the Celtics defeated the Lakers 110-95. Walton hit five of six shots, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished 5 assists while blocking a whopping seven shots in 16 minutes. Walton frustrated Jabbar every minute he was on the floor, holding Kareem to two field goals on eight attempts. In Los Angeles, the Celtics again won comfortably, with Walton posting 10 points, seven rebounds, 5 blocks, and four assists. This time he held Kareem to 1 field goal in five attempts.
These were outstanding performances, but not necessarily rare or even his best that year.
Opposing coaches and players could be heard cursing in disgust as they looked over at the scorer's bench, where Bill Walton was getting ready to check into the game for the first time. Having just been mopped up with the rest of the loose debris by the Celtics' first unit, opponents realized it wasn't going to get any easier with the second unit. In fact, it could likely get worse.
Can the 2008-09 Boston Celtics find anyone who will even remotely have this kind of impact off the bench?
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