Here’s a question: If a game has Bill Walton on the commentary but he didn’t say anything that caught your attention, did something happen? This time Bill Walton “compared” himself to Chewbacca from Star Wars.
The former NBA Finals MVP turned sportswriter has been known to say outlandish things whenever he is on the air, and last night was no exception. During the broadcast of the basketball game between Oregon and USC, his commentary partner Dave Pasch asked him to take a trip back in time.
Considering that for the game they were at USC (the school attended in the 1960s by Star Wars director George Lucas), Pasch asked Walton if he could confirm a rumor he had heard about the movies.
Bill Walton would not answer Dave Pasch if he was in the running to play Chewbacca in Star Wars.
Eventually Bill says he “auditioned” to play Chewbacca, but the character was modeled after him.
Bill Walton won’t give Dave Pasch an answer on if he was in the mix to play Chewbacca in Star Wars.
Bill finally says that he “auditioned” to play Chewbacca, but they modeled the character after him.
This is an amazing interaction.🏀🎬🤣 pic.twitter.com/uk4rORSf1D
– Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 2, 2024
Pasch said he heard Walton was “in the running” to play Chewbacca. Here is what Walton said (and note that the transcript reflects the way the former NBA big man pronounces the Wookiee’s name):
“No, I heard him say. Chewbacca is modeled after me. George Lucas is a cool guy, and I remember the night George, Kareem, Bill Russell and I were all in San Francisco for a big fundraiser for the Martin Luther King memorial. I auditioned for Chewbacca and they said, “No, but we’ll model the character after you.”
While it’s fun to take him at his word, especially since he shared a somewhat shaggy look with Chewbacca during his days in the field, perhaps it’s not the case that we should take him seriously.
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