Bill Walton video resurfaces with eerie quote: "I've been dead for quite a few years"

On May 27, the NBA announced that Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton passed away at the age of 71. The beloved former NCAA and NBA star was immediately remembered for his endless catalogue of vivacious broadcasting highlights, but one particular clip took on a very different tone after his passing.

Bill Walton's famous White Sox broadcast

In 2019, five years before his untimely death caused by cancer, Walton joined Chicago White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti to broadcast his first MLB game. In classic Bill Walton fashion, he got lost on a tangent in their pregame segment, leading to this eerie exchange:

"It's a timeless game," Benetti said.

"I love timeless-ness," Walton replied. "You're timeless. I've been dead for quite a few years."

"And we all may be by the end of the night," Benetti jumped in and said, sending them to commercial before Bill could elaborate.

A man with many layers

It's hard to know what exactly the UCLA legend meant by his words. As anyone who watched one of his broadcasts would quickly tell you, his mind is an enigma. Given his well-reported love for Jerry Garcia's famous band, it may have been an innocent reference to the Grateful Dead, which had worked its way into the chat with Benetti beforehand.

On the other hand, it would not be out of character for Walton to make such a profound statement on live TV. In the ESPN 30 for 30 titled The Luckiest Guy in the World, he opened up about his struggles with depression and his physical health after his painstaking career. His comments during the White Sox game could have been a candid portrayal of his well-being, masked by his trademark smile and whimsy.

In any case, the clip was an apt summation of Walton's legacy on the world. Someone never afraid to speak his mind, embrace the ups and downs as the beauty of life, and never take anything for granted.

As he said to Benetti during the broadcast, hardly believing his luck: "This is a job?"