Bill Walton: ESPN firing came at my lowest point
Get breaking news and SI’s biggest stories instantly. Download the new Sports Illustrated app (iOS or Android) and personalize your experience by following your favorite teams and SI writers.
Bill Walton told SI Now’s Maggie Gray in an interview that he got fired from ESPN at the lowest point in his life.
“At the lowest point, I [got] fired,” said Walton, who was dismissed from his broadcasting position with the network in 2009 after sustaining a back injury with a year and a half to go on his contract.
Walton, who was later re-hired by ESPN in 2012, also told Gray that he contemplated suicide after the injury.
“When I was lying on that floor—and I had nothing—I was going to kill myself if I had a gun,” Walton said.
The No. 1 selection in the 1974 NBA draft, Walton has undergone nearly 40 orthopedic surgeries in his life. Multiple foot injuries cost him three seasons of his illustrious NBA career.
Walton won two NBA titles in 10 healthy seasons and was the 1978 league MVP. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
