BASKETBALL LEGEND BILL WALTON TO HEADLINE AUGUST 11 EVENT
FLORENCE, Ala. -- Collegiate and NBA basketball legend, and current sports broadcaster Bill Walton, will be the featured speaker at the North Alabama Lions Athletic Club's 2022 Lion Pride Dinner and Auction at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center on August 11 at 5:30 p.m.
Sponsorship and meet and greet packages for the event are available immediately. Tables of eight are on sale for $1,200 each, while individual tickets will go on sale this summer, if available.
"The UNA LIons Athletic Club is proud to bring basketball great, hall of famer and lecturer, Bill Walton, to the Shoals area as the keynote speaker for this year's dinner and auction," said club vice president Dan Penny. "We had such a terrific response last year with Pete Rose as the keynote speaker, that we expect another sellout crowd for 2022."
Considered one of the best all-around post players in basketball history, Walton played collegiately for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national college player of the year awards (1972–1974), while leading UCLA to NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973. That run included an 88-game winning streak.
After being selected as the first overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft, Walton led the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA championship in 1977, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award that season. he was named 1978 NBA Most Valuable Player and later won another NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 1986. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. He was named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.
Walton's professional career began to be significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries requiring numerous surgeries. Walton sat out the 1978–79 season and was then signed by the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers, for whom he played four injury-plagued seasons. His career was rehabilitated during two seasons with the Boston Celtics at the end of his career. Playing as a backup center behind Robert Parish, Walton earned the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in the 1985–86 season, winning his second championship that same season.
After retiring from the NBA, Walton embarked on a second career as a sportscaster, working both as a studio analyst and color commentator, mostly for ESPN, with stints for several other networks and teams. He earned an Emmy Award in 1991.
Walton is a noted fan of the Grateful Dead, as a self-described "Deadhead", and often mentions them in his broadcasts. He has hosted several podcasts and satellite radio programs featuring the music of the Grateful Dead.
To become a sponsor or purchase a table to the 2022 Lion Pride Dinner and Auction, contact Megan Dye at (256) 765-4615 or email smlovelace@una.edu.
