That '78 Blazer team started 50-10 and looked poised to tear through the playoffs once more until the injuries--starting with Walton--set in.
Much of the medical knowledge used to treat today's players comes from case studies of Walton's feet back in the 1970s and 1980s. Given the number of careers that have been saved as a result of the orthopedic knowledge gained as a result, you could argue that Walton's feet deserve to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Special contributors or something of that nature.
Had MRIs been ubiquitous when he played in Portland (I think it was not long after he left they began clinical use) maybe things could have gone differently. I know he wasn't happy with how the Blazers handled his and other teammates injuries and that's why he wanted out. Fortunately time healed that wound and while he didn't visit Portland all that frequently he was always celebrated by the franchise and the city when he did.
Walton told a story about getting a physical at Mass General after the Clippers traded him to the Celtics, and he's like "don't look at my feet or I'll never pass." Red Auerbach walked in and the doctors are like "uh, look at this. Are you sure about this?" Auerbach asked Walton if he believed he could still play. Walton said yes. Auerbach took a big drag of his cigar (yes, in a hospital) and said, "I'm in charge here, and he passes." Walton went on to win 6th Man of the Year and the Celtics won the title. I don't remember watching him play here in Portland, and what little he was able to play with the Clippers was mostly in obscurity, but I definitely remember him that season in Boston. Even though he was a backup, for the minutes he was on the court with Bird it was sick to watch the passing.
