Bill Walton Won't You Please Play Ball?

Two weeks ago, as the situation was becoming less and less tolerable, Walton went to Los Angeles to see an acupuncturist and afterward said he was ready to play again. Last Thursday he came off the bench and played 14 minutes against Cleveland. Next night in Houston, Wilkens had him in for 22 minutes in which he scored 13 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds. On Sunday against Abdul-Jabbar and Milwaukee again, he got another lesson on how to play center in the NBA. Treatments may have helped his ankle, but certain obstacles stand in the way of his regaining the promise of his preseason days. For one thing it is questionable whether the team that has come to regard him as a cornflake can rally round him again.

And there is also the problem of his weight. He came back gaunt as a refugee and having lost virtually all his stamina. "His legs are so skinny they're turning blue," says Wicks. Other teammates kid him pointedly about what he eats, and his diet has become a matter of concern to Wilkens. "By not eating meat or fish Bill loses the main source of bulk which is essential for a big man in this game because bulk builds strength," he says. "I know Bill gets enough vitamins but I'll have to watch his progress to see if the lack of bulk hurts him. If it does it is definitely in my power to demand a change of diet. It's the same as a player coming in overweight, only in reverse."

The Blazers have greeted Walton's return with a wait-and-see attitude. Said Petrie: "Certainly Bill can fit into this team. But I think he has to earn the respect of the team first. And I don't think it will be easy. He has to mold himself with this club. He has to make himself stronger. I think he has to make some compromises."

Some who have witnessed the season thus far doubt that he can make it. A man who has dealt with him throughout his career said, before Walton had started to play again, "All things considered, I think he's gone too far to function in the NBA again."

Meanwhile Walton has found a new lawyer—Black Panther Party attorney Charles Garry—and a new spiritual leader. Jack Scott, the anti-sports Establishment author, has moved in with Walton and his "family" and appears to be calling some of Walton's shots.

What Walton really intends to do with himself perhaps no one knows. But as they say in the Pacific Northwest, the ax is in his hands.