2.11.2019

Luke Walton's Childhood: Jerry Garcia, The Greatful Dead, and the Boston Celtics

June 2008

Luke Walton's Childhood: Jerry Garcia, The Greatful Dead, and the Boston Celtics

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Finally, the NBA Finals will be the way a young Luke Walton always imagined them.



The Celtics will be facing the Lakers in a renewal of perhaps the league's greatest rivalry, and Walton will be on the court, doing what he can to help his team win. Yet there is one major difference between the childhood fantasy and the professional reality.

``When I was in the backyard, playing imaginary games with nine other people that weren't really there, it was me and Larry (Bird) going against Magic (Johnson) and them,'' Walton said. ``I would definitely set it up so I was playing with the Celtics and beating the Lakers. Now I've got to switch that up and play with the Lakers and try to take down the Celtics.

Two decades after watching his father, Bill, win the NBA's Sixth Man Award for the Celtics' last title team, Luke is a fifth-year small forward and a veteran presence as part of the Lakers' second unit, preparing to face his former favorite team.

As children, Luke and his siblings received their education in the Celtics mystique from their dad, who brings Hall of Fame credentials both as a center and as a salesman.

``He's a very loyal personality, so the things he believes in and goes with, he preaches it pretty strongly,'' Luke said. ``We heard all about the Celtics as kids. We were die-hard fans.

Bill Walton has earned a reputation as a zealous defender of what he believes thanks to his many years of doing game analysis on national NBA broadcasts. Dating back to his UCLA days, the elder Walton seldom shied from espousing, strongly, what he thinks.

And his views on the franchise he helped win the 1986 NBA championship were made clear to his family.

``Greatest franchise in basketball, and playing with Larry is unbelievable,'' Luke Walton described his father as saying. ``We were raised to believe in the Celtics, the greats. Just like Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, that's all we ever heard about.''

Yet even while Luke Walton has a family connection to the old rivalry, and Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant is an aficionado of the history of Lakers vs. Celtics, that history may not matter.

``Most of the guys that are playing in this game were either young kids or weren't even born yet,'' Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis said.

But Luke Walton went through it, as a little kid watching his dad play. And he has been reminded of that, and of his father's undying loyalties many times since.

And while Luke thinks Bill will pull for him, he doesn't expect those passions to get toned down, no matter what team Luke plays for.

``Not really, because when I was at Arizona, if UCLA beat us, the first voice mail I got was from him the next day,'' Luke said. ``Talking about how great the Bruins were and how Arizona shouldn't even be in the same conference as them.''

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