Bill Walton's comeback attempt in '90

[SelakStreet]

I've heard that Bill Walton was going to make a comeback in 1990, but wasn't sure which NBA team had interest in him. Since it says he attempted a comeback in February 1990, i'm assuming he was going to return at the mid-point of the '90 season.

Let's say if Walton was able to avoid incurring the worst of his injuries that led to him abandoning the comeback attempt to stay retired and was actually able to garner interest from NBA teams, I wonder if he would've returned to the Celtics or go find another NBA team either in desperate need of an emergency center with one or two of their big men out due to injury or a playoff contender (other than the Celtics) in need of more championship experience since he's a two-time NBA champion ('77 for Portland and '86 for Boston) and the '77 Finals MVP.

[Owly]

I've heard that Bill Walton was going to make a comeback in 1990, but wasn't sure which NBA team had interest in him. Since it says he attempted a comeback in February 1990, i'm assuming he was going to return at the mid-point of the '90 season.

Let's say if Walton was able to avoid incurring the worst of his injuries that led to him abandoning the comeback attempt to stay retired and was actually able to garner interest from NBA teams, I wonder if he would've returned to the Celtics or go find another NBA team either in desperate need of an emergency center with one or two of their big men out due to injury or a playoff contender (other than the Celtics) in need of more championship experience since he's a two-time NBA champion ('77 for Portland and '86 for Boston) and the '77 Finals MVP.

Otoh ... he was on Boston's payroll and roster in '88 just unable to play ...

Depends what the "it" you cite is but my impression was he was always looking to get back to the Celtics.

Can't lay my hands on his autobiog right now ... my very sketchy impressions from many years ago were
- he was trying to come back for a while after he actually last played, though on a somewhat recent revisit I don't think I noticed any dates so take it with a pinch of salt
- at some point the doctors just said no

Fwiw 1990 would be his Reference age 37 season. He would have seen three full seasons (plus whatever of the 89-90 season passed) in which he would have played a total of 112 RS minutes plus 102 playoff minutes.

With his history it's hard to imagine anything being viable but him being in a spot where two bigs are already injured sounds like a nightmare scenario for him. Even if it's just luck ... him being in a position where he's expected, under any pressure to play. Asking him with his history to consistently be anything other than a spot minute luxury is asking for trouble.

[Ol Roy]

"In February 1990, almost three years after Walton had played his last NBA game, he was contemplating a comeback - until his most devastating injury took hold. He got up and couldn't walk. His foot and ankle were so badly damaged that they were partially dislocated and the disintegrating bones were grinding together."
https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Walton_Bill.html