Bill Walton was the biggest Yao supporter when the like of Bakley really belittle Yao. He was the one said Yao will change the way the game will be played... I am sure you don't mean those comments should be ignored or burned
I've thought Bill Walton was a fool ever since he came to my high school many years ago and accused us all of having guns in our lockers....
Bill Walton is like many NBA fans, he does not get the question. Who IS the best center NOW? I have seen many posts on many msg boards with replies like: "are you kidding me? yao is better than shaq? the MDE with 4 rings? 6 final appearance? USED to average 30/12?" God, there's a reason why the great players like MJ, Dream, Bird, Magic.... retired. They ARE not even better than Battier now. Can ppl understand?
If you really know Bill Walton, you would know that he quickly jumped off Yao's bandwagon during 2004~2005, which were Yao's difficult time.
If Bill Walton wasn't known. If he was just your average Joe you know at the bar. He's the guy that we all know. The guy that wore nothing, but Bulls jerseys during their championship years. Then all of a sudden he went to wearing Rockets jerseys. Then back to the bulls jerseys. Then of course came the Spurs, Lakers, and Detriot jerseys. If Bill Walton was your average Joe at the bar you'd see him at the bar today in a Miami jersey telling you about how Shaq is the best center in the league and Yao can not come close. Bill Walton is the biggest ban wagon rider of all the sports commentators. The man jumps ship midway through the 2nd quarter and back in the 4th.
Bill Walton was a huge Yao fan before, but the contrast is amazing. He must have lost a bet or something. Maybe Yao posterized his son?
Michael played every game hard. Shaq is not a winner in my book if he picks and choose which games are important or not. Yao has only been in the league 5 years too. After we win the championship, Yao wins the MVP, i want Rudy T to come out with the "never underestimate the heart of a championship" speech again!
Walton has gone from a YOF to YOH. When Yao first came to the States for the workouts 5 years ago, he met with Walton for 2 hours and told him that Walton was like a father figure to him. That made Walton cry. Ever since then, Walton had been openly prasing Yao whenever he could. But last couple years, he has gone reverse, talks more about Yao's weakness than his improvements. I dont know if that's because he had such high expectation of Yao, remember he lauded Yao as the next player to revolutionize the game in an espn article. Anyways, I dont find his comments, pro Yao or the opposite, rational. But Walton is walton, love him or hate him.
you guys, Bill Walton is right. there WAS noone close to Shaq, because when he was winning rings, Hakeem was retiring.
Bill walton has got to be the biggest cheese wang i have ever heard speak in my life, i cannot stand to listen to him announce any game , i am forced to mute it if he is announcing. He thinks that anything that comes out of his mouth is the gospel and he knows the game of basketball better than anyone in the world
The guy had stuttering disorder. Ever since that was corrected, he has been catching up what he had missed. I actually do enjoy his non-sense sometimes. Just dont take him too seriously, because he doesnt himself. The guy has above average intelligence at least, unlike most other color commentators.
If any GM in the league were asked whether they'd prefer to build a team around Yao or Shaq, the answer would overwhelmingly be Yao. When Shaq was hitting his prime, Hakeem was on the decline. Its all relative. Besides their styles are all completely different. If you want a monster of a man with no real talent to beat everyone up, take Shaq everytime.
This is stupid...walton says that shaq is better cuz hes ready for the playoffs. what kind of comparison is that. so he can play like crap in the regular season and still be the best center even when 5 centers have better numbers than him, just because of his history. bull****. the question is what center is playing the best basketball right now. plain and simple. of course yao hasnt passed shaq in terms of wins, hes still only 26. we all know what center is playing the best ball right now, plain and simple.
CHUCK HAYES + YAO----> YAO SCORES > 30 AT least ....+ YAO -----> yao scores > 20 conclusion: C. HAYES is the yao's motivation, cause he's fast, and he's Yao's shadow, he gives yao the courage and confidence, he gives the ball to yao and put Yao to score like a machine. Without HAYES, Rox lost his superpower, and become a soft team... So come back Hayes, you are the MVP OF THE ROCKETS, and YAO needs you to become a superstar, you motive him like a mouse motives a cat, without you, he's just a blind score-machine.
2) Dude Shaq is at that stage in his career where he has to gear himself for the stretch run, why have a monster regular season only to have the chance to injur yourself before the playoffs (Like what happened his 1st year in Miami) Shaq knows how to pace himself and he grabbed himself a title for doing so. Almost every smart analyst agree's Yao is the best regular season center in the league. But when it comes time to win Yao still has to prove himself. 3) Im sorry but dominant BigMen are held by a different standard. Since they are who they are they have the greatest influence on the outcome of a game and should be judged by how they win. Your comparison is stupid Horry? Since when was he ever a 1st option. Granted its not the end all measure it does hold some wieght. Shaq has never had a losing season, he took an expansion team and just barely missed the playoffs that was his rookie year.
Kids, it's simple. Bill Walton exists for one reason, and one reason only: to provide a vivid and explicit example of exactly why you should never do drugs. Drugs are bad, mmkay?
You cant be serious, MJ never took the amount of punishment Shaq recieves during his career. Not a fair comparison by any meens, nice try at diminishing Shaq though
Bill Walton is a genious, I have never disagreed with anything hes ever said, when hes not talking out of his ass. Like when he said Maurice Taylor had an All Star caliber game
Such events are not unprecedented in the history of mankind. LOL Now speaking of the MDE, exactly whom has Shaq dominated? If the era where Shaq won his four championship rings was not a clown era, I don't know what is. Let's take a look at the main competitions during his championship runs, shall we? Arvydas Sabonis, Rik Smits, Vlade Divac, David Robinson, and Dikembe Mutombo: not bad players but pretty much all at the twilight of their careers (well, God bless Deke) and injury-ridden. Scot Pollard, Keon Clark, Greg Ostertag, Jason Collins: LOL Or maybe Eric Dampier was a one-of-a-kind? Only two guys stood out as Shaq's true competitors -- Ben Wallace and Tim Duncan. But Wallace was much undersized and Duncan was mainly a power forward. Moreover, these two didn't have losing head-to-head playoff records vs Shaq, IIRC. Throw in if you will an inexperienced Yao who played his first ever playoffs in '03-'04. If we bother to look at Shaq's pre-Championship years, it's not even funny. Completely schooled by Hakeem in the '94-'95 Finals; remained Karl Malone's b**** for much of the playoffs during mid-to-late '90s; even a softee like David Robinson was able to give Shaq lots of trouble. The media's massive ass kissing of Shaq only proves one thing -- that true centers are indeed a dying breed.
