NBA basketball champion and Southern California sports legend Bill Walton died Monday, according to NBA officials. The longtime San Diego resident was 71 years old.

Walton, a La Mesa native whose death came after a long battle with cancer, was a Southern California sports hero who played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national college player of the year awards from 1972 to 1974 while helping lead UCLA to the NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973.

Selected as the first overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft, Walton then led the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA championship in 1977, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award. He won another NBA title in 1986 as a member of the Boston Celtics. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position.

“His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals MVP, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated on Monday.

Walton later became an Emmy Award-winning sportscaster. “Bill translated his infectious enthusiasm and love for the game to broadcasting, where he delivered insightful and colorful commentary which entertained generations of basketball fans,” Silver said.

An outpouring of remembrances were shared on social media Monday, including a message from former United States President Barack Obama.

“Bill Walton was one of the greatest basketball players of all time — a champion at every level and the embodiment of unselfish team play,” Obama wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “He was also a wonderful spirit full of curiosity, humor and kindness. We are poorer for his passing, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family.”

In a statement Monday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said the city was mourning the death of Walton.

“He was a towering figure in basketball and broadcasting as well as a civic icon who loved his hometown,” Gloria said. “Our city’s thoughts are with his wife, Lori, and the entire Walton family. Godspeed, Bill.”

Walton was born on Nov. 5, 1952, in La Mesa, where he grew up and played basketball at Helix High School.

The San Diego resident is survived by his wife Lori and sons Adam, Nate, Luke and Chris, according to the NBA. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Walton “never strayed far from the city, owning a now-iconic home near Balboa Park and traversing San Diego’s communities on his bike.”

Just last month, he attended the Neil Young and Crazy Horse concert at San Diego State University, along with sporting events, the U-T reported.

Walton considered himself a lifelong San Diegan and had lived in the same home for over 40 years, NBC San Diego reported.

“I love San Diego — this is the greatest place on Earth,” Walton told the California Now blog in 2020.

“It’s a welcoming city with dizzying possibilities and anything and everything that you could want.”

Todd Tibbits, president of the YMCA of San Diego County, said Walton “has left an incredible mark on San Diego by being a passionate force for boundless generosity and unwavering determination to inspire those around him.”

“Our Y team is grateful to have had his light shined upon us,” Tibbits said in a statement. “Today, the YMCA of San Diego County mourns the significant loss of Bill Walton, along with many charitable organizations impacted by the legendary athlete, inspirational community leader, donor, volunteer and charismatic motivator.”

Walton was an active member of the YMCA Mission Valley for many years and leaves a profound legacy at the organization, Tibbits said.

“He always took great pride in fostering community, imparting wisdom, and inspiring individuals of all ages with his words and actions,” Tibbits added. “Members often recall how his infectious enthusiasm and positive attitude had the power to uplift everyone around him.”

Tibbits said that Walton’s “unique sense of humor left an indelible mark” at the Mission Valley YMCA, including an extra-tall showerhead installed within the locker room, complete with a sign per Walton’s request that read, “Only tall people use the shower.”

In recent years, Walton had publicly criticized the city of San Diego for its response to a growing number of homeless in the region.

ln a September 2022 news conference, Walton issued a scathing rebuke of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria regarding the problem, calling him a “failed mayor” and asking that he step aside to make way for different leadership.

Walton had long been a supporter of the city, but said he could no longer do so as the homelessness crisis worsened.

“Paradise Lost: This is the city of San Diego, a once great city,” Walton said during the Sept. 27 conference with members of the nonprofit the Lucky Duck Foundation. “Sadly, and with a broken heart, I can no longer claim San Diego is the greatest place on Earth.”

Walton said he had been harassed, chased and attacked while riding his bike in Balboa Park near a large homeless encampment he dubbed “Gloriaville.”

In response, a spokeswoman for Gloria said that he is “is clear-eyed and has been completely honest with the public about the enormity of the challenge our city is facing.”

Updated at 4:19 p.m. Monday, May 27, 2024

–City News Service

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson experienced a medical emergency during a flight headed to Los Angeles but “is doing great,” according to a report published Monday.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame member was aboard an American Airlines flight from Miami on Sunday night and “had some kind of medical emergency on the plane and paramedics boarded,” an eyewitness told In Touch.

Passengers had to wait 25 minutes to leave the plane after its arrival at Los Angeles International Airport after paramedics tended to Tyson, the celebrity magazine reported.

“Thankfully Mr. Tyson is doing great. He became nauseous and dizzy due to an ulcer flare up 30 minutes before landing,” a representative for Tyson said in a statement to In Touch. “He is appreciative to the medical staff that were there to help him.”

The incident will not effect Tyson’s scheduled July 20 fight against YouTuber Jake Paul.

“Nothing changed,” Paul posted on the social platform X.

The fight is planned for three weeks after Tyson’s 58th birthday.

A pre-recorded message asking if there were any medical personnel on the plane was played about 30 minutes before its scheduled landing, according to the eyewitness, whose name was not published.

Medical professionals were asked to contact the flight attendants or press the call button because another passenger needed assistance.

“Then our screens said medical assistance needed and repeated the same thing,” the eyewitness added.

Updated at 4:16 p.m. May 27, 2024

City News Service contributed to this article.

The University of San Diego added a tournament title to their regular-season crown Saturday by defeating Portland 8-6 at the West Coast Conference tourney.

With the win in Las Vegas, the Toreros (40-13) clinched their second WCC Tournament title since 2022, which hands them an automatic berth in the NCAA regionals as teams try to reach the College World Series.

They also became the first WCC team to win the conference baseball tournament a third time. In addition, USD recorded its 10th straight victory as well as its 18th win in its last 19 games. 

Down 1-0 in the fourth inning, the Toreros rode a five-run rally, aided by two walks with the bases loaded, to take the lead for good. Portland (39-19), though, continued to nip at their heels, scoring three in the fifth to make it a one-run game.

USD continued to play small ball, as runs scored on two ground outs and a sacrifice fly in the seventh and ninth. Portland added runs in the eighth and ninth inning, but Conner Thurman induced Pilot Jack Thomson, representing the game-winning run, to hit a deep fly ball that made it to the warning track but landed in the glove of Dustin Allen to seal the victory.

Calvin Schapira pitched 2.2 innings to get the win, after he spelled starter Logan Reddemann, who went 4.2 innings.

Meanwhile, USD placed four on the WCC All-Tournament Team – infielders Justin DeCriscio and Angelo Peraza and pitchers Ivran Romero and Austin Smith, who also slots in as a DH.

Three of the four have local prep ties – Peraza attended St. Augustine High, Romero, Poway High and Smith, Granite Hills High.

The Toreros will find out what comes next at 9 a.m. Monday on the NCAA Selection Show, airing on ESPN2. The regionals begin May 31.

Five San Diego State athletes qualified at the NCAA West Preliminaries at the University of Arkansas on Saturday to move on to the NCAA Championships.

Individually, Shaquena Foote (400m) and Xiamara Young (triple jump) punched their tickets to Eugene, Ore. along with the 4x100m relay team consisting of Foote, Hannah Waller, Jada Moore, and Aji Mbye.

The 4x100m relay team qualified in the first event of the day. Waller opened the race followed by Moore and Foote, with Mybe running the anchor leg. They finished the race in 45.35 seconds, the second fastest time in both San Diego State and Mountain West history.

They finished third in heat number one and ranked seventh overall in the field.

With the quartet advancing, San Diego State is the only non-Power Five program to send their 4x100m relay team to at least five of the last eight NCAA Championship meets.

Qualifying this year marks the sixth time the Aztecs have performed the feat. They also did so from 2016-18 and 2021-22.

Foote added a second event for her trip to Hayward Field, barely advancing in the 400m dash. Running a 51.85, she placed 12th to claim the final qualifying spot.

She is the sixth Aztec to advance to the 400m championships in program history and first to do so since 2018.

Young, on her third and final attempt in the triple jump, she recorded a personal best of 13.51m (44-4) to climb to 11th place for a qualifying spot.

She is the seventh Aztec triple jumper to reach the outdoor championships and fifth to qualify for both indoor and outdoor nationals in the same season.

In the other quarterfinal races on Saturday, Charlize James finished 15th in the 100m hurdles with a wind-aided time of 13.19 seconds while Jessica Kain was 16th at 4:20.00 in the 1,500m.

Sameerah Evans finished 39th in the triple jump with a wind-aided mark of 12.58m (41-3.25). The final event of the weekend was the 4x400m relay with Rhea Hoyte, Waller, Sydney Bentley and Foote posting a time of 3:36.12 to finish 20th.

The NCAA Championships take place June 6-8.

UC San Diego reliever Izaak Martinez has been named a semifinalist for 2024 National Pitcher of the Year.

Martinez is one of 14 hurlers named to the watch list, announced by the College Baseball Foundation, and one of two pitchers from the Big West.

The left-hander has added to his growing list of accolades, after earning a spot on the Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalists list. He was also part of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year midseason watch list, which recognizes the best relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.

The Glendora native served as the Tritons’ closer in his fifth season, leading the Big West in earned run average, opponent batting average and saves for the majority of the campaign.

Martinez also spent multiple weeks atop the nation in ERA and currently ranks second overall with a 1.85 ERA.

He led the Tritons with 25 appearances out of the bullpen, collecting 61 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of work. He ranks first in the Big West in hits allowed (40), runs allowed (16), earned runs allowed (13), doubles allowed (5), home runs allowed (1) and second in saves (9).

Opponents hit .183 against him this season, which ranks third in the conference.

Nick Pinto of UC Irvine, with nine victories this year, is the other finalist from the Big West.

Juan Soto, of course, did not take himself out of San Diego. The Padres, with payroll firmly in mind, made the trade that sent the slugger to the Yankees, and he is thriving in New York.

But forgive Padre fans if they felt Friday as if salt was being poured in their wounds when Soto and fellow star Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers in the third inning.

And after a single by Alex Verdugo, it went from bad to worse when a third star Yankee, Giancarlo Stanton, sent another ball out of the park – they were all no doubters – as New York built a commanding 6-0 lead.

The five runs in the inning all scored with two outs, so clearly it was not Yu Darvish’s night. He would go on to give up one more run – another homer, this time from Gleyber Torres – before leaving in the sixth trailing 7-0.

The Padres ultimately fell 8-0 as they opened up a six-game home stand with a three-game series against the Yankees, who lead the American League East.

The Friars could only muster three hits, from Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth, against Carlos Rodón, and none at all after the Yankee starter departed the game in the seventh.

Soto came to the Padres in a blockbuster trade with Washington in 2022. After he made it to the National League Championship Series with them to end the season, he and the team had every reason for particularly high hopes in 2023.

They all came to naught, however, and the Padres, beset by a foundering offense and rumored to be in turmoil, missed the playoffs completely, despite a late push.

While certainly no slouch in San Diego – he won a Silver Slugger with the Padres – he is tearing it up in New York. With two hits Friday, his average rose to .315 and his two-run homer off Darvish was his 14th on the year.

Soto discussed San Diego with MLB.com, calling it “a great city” with “a great fanbase,” but he also conceded that perhaps fans at Petco Park never got to see all that he can do.

“That’s one of the things I was sad about,” he said. “I couldn’t show them how great I can be.”

New York’s gain is San Diego’s loss.

The Padres will send Dylan Cease to the mound Saturday against Marcus Stroman in a 6:40 p.m. start.

Two San Diego State baseball players have received top Mountain West honors, including infielder Finley Bates, who was named Freshman of the Year.

In addition, starting pitcher Omar Serrano made the first-team all-MW team.

The honorees were selected by the league’s seven head coaches, taking only MW games into account.

Bates became the fourth Aztec player to garner conference Freshman of the Year accolades, joining former Washington National Stephen Strasburg (2007), Jaden Fein (2019) and Irvin Weems (2022).

A native of Castle Park, Col., Bates played all 30 games against MW competition, leading the team in batting average (.375), hits (48), total bases (67) and on-base percentage (.438), while ranking second in runs scored (23), slugging percentage (.523) and walks (13).

Bates tied for the conference lead in hits and placed fourth in batting average.

For the season, Bates started 52 of 53 games, with 28 starts at shortstop and 24 at second. He hit .292 with three homers, 11 RBIs and 35 runs scored, and tied for the top spot on the team with 14 doubles..

Serrano, meanwhile, had a 5-5 record against MW opponents, posting a conference-best 3.06 ERA while tying for second in victories. The SDSU junior also ranked third in the league with 60 strikeouts and fourth with a .263 batting average by opponents.

In 10 starts against MW foes, Serrano, a graduate of Downey High School, allowed one earned run or less on six occasions, fanning at least five batters in each of those contests.

For the season, Serrano tied for the conference lead with 14 starts, ranked third in overall ERA (4.02) ad fourth in strikeouts (77) and innings pitched (80.2).

Serrano was part of an Aztec pitching staff that led the MW during the regular season in strikeouts (494), opponent batting average (.267), fewest hits allowed (481) and fewest home runs allowed (35).  

The team’s season ended Saturday with a 16-9 loss to Nevada. They finished at 17-37 overall and 10-20 in MW play.

It’s the track and field equivalent of hope and change.

Word emerged recently that Olympic sprint legend Michael Johnson was launching a “track league” in 2025 backed by Winners Alliance to “revolutionize” the sport, with $30 million in seed money. In April came news of the 776 Invitational set for late September, a women-only meet created by Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and husband of Serena Williams.

Both projects aim to yank American track and field out of a decades-old doldrums, where public interest has waned and crowds dwindled.

At the NBC-televised Los Angeles Grand Prix meet Saturday, for example, only half the stands were filled — a concrete stadium on only one side of the 400-meter oval. (Drake Stadium at UCLA has a seating capacity of 11,700.)

A baker’s dozen of world-class athletes had questions and concerns about the Johnson effort as they spoke with Times of San Diego.

But they were mostly excited about the 776 women’s meet (named for the founder’s investment company).

“That’s so cool,” said Sage Hurta-Klecker, 25, a former NCAA indoor mile champion. “I just hope I can put together a good enough season that [includes me] in the conversation.”

Two-time Uganda Olympian Halimah Nakaayi, 29, the 2019 world champion at 800 meters (who also won Saturday), said: “Yeah, I love to inspire women and any activity concerning women — I’m interested to take part in it.”

And Olympic sprinter Jenna Prandini, 31, told me: “What Gabby did was amazing to bring that to us. So if I had the opportunity [to compete], of course.”

Gabby is Olympic sprint medalist Gabrielle Thomas, 27, who joined Ohanian on stage in April to talk up his meet — with no venue or date announced.

(She had to educate him, however. In early chats, he reportedly asked the Harvard grad: “Can the track be laid out like an F-1 circuit, so it’s not like an oval every time?” Thomas replied: “That’s a terrible idea.”)

On Saturday, Thomas added little other information.

“I don’t know too much,” she said. “We don’t have anything set in stone right now. I know we’re targeting after the Olympics” and even after the last Diamond League meet Sept. 13-14 in Belgium.

Is she recruiting anybody for the meet?

“We want everyone to be there — everyone who wants to be there,” Thomas told me. “All the top women should be at that meet.”

Five-time NCAA champion Anna Cockrell, 26, now a professional who won the 400-meter hurdles Saturday, would like to compete there — but worries about her event being left out.

She said she’s spoken very briefly with Ohanian about the event, which could lead to a series of meets.

“From what I understand, I don’t know if there’s a hurdle race so I’m interested but if there’s no hurdles … I don’t know if I’ll be there,” she said.

Another hurdler — world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone — said after winning the L.A. Grand Prix 200-meter dash that the 776 meet “sounds like a really awesome amazing opportunity and I’m sure it’s going to be great.”

But she and her coach, Bobby Kersee, “haven’t thought that far ahead.”

Ohanian didn’t respond to numerous requests for comment.

Neither did former world-record holder Johnson, who declined to speak to me Saturday as he watched the meet with fellow Olympic greats in the VIP area.

But his effort to jump-start fan interest in track drew mixed reviews among world-class athletes I spoke to at UCLA.

‘”My opinion is somewhat … skeptical,” Rai Benjamin said after clocking a world-leading time in the 400 hurdles.

“I feel like we have a product that already works,” he said, fretting that the new circuit could result in a thinning of the sport’s available prize money.

For a track league to compete with the World Athletics series of professional meets called the Wanda Diamond League, he said, “You need a venue. And from what I’ve read, I don’t think they have a TV deal.”

Benjamin, 26, asked: “What’s the ROI on that for his investors and how much money can they actually flush out for this?”

His fellow long hurdler Cockrell noted “all this conversation about the WNBA and women’s basketball. I think a big difference has been you can watch it, and now we have all these people that want to watch [Caitlin Clark and the WNBA].”

But she’s among many track athletes decrying the recent announcement that FloTrack would take over U.S. broadcast rights to air foreign Diamond League meets starting in 2025 — with subscriptions costing $29.99 a month or $149.99 a year. (NBC/Peacock has rights now.)

“I’m glad that we have people wanting to invest and start these leagues,” Conckrell said. “That is a step in the right direction, but it’s … about: How do we get people to watch it?

“It’s hard to get fans who don’t know anything about the sport to pay that much to watch it. So whoever can solve that problem, you got my vote.”

Kyree King, winner of the 100 Saturday, said a project like Johnson’s is “exactly what we need. We need competition with these other meets because they just think they can do whatever they want — you know, pay whatever they want to, do whatever they want.

“There’s more competition if there’s more money over here and these fans in America deserve to have the top-of-the-line athletes come out and race in a league that they get to come to and they get to see —  not only in Eugene or in L.A. or something like that.”

King, 29, said the league needs consistent meets “so that we can create more fanfare, … create more money. We can make this sport way bigger.”

World champion Michael Norman, the San Diego-born star who won the 400 Saturday, said he needed more information about the Johnson league (with no name yet but details expected in June).

“I’ve only heard that he’s gotten some initial money for a start-up, but I want to see … the plans and the details,” he said. “Is this like a cash-grab type of scenario?”

Norman says professional track “should kind of go away from appearance fees and just make the pot bigger for winning.”

He said more top stars would be enticed to compete — with headlines following — if meets offered $60,000 first-place prizes instead of athletes “going back and forth with the meet director fighting for like $10,000 while other athletes are just struggling to get to the meet.”

World bronze medalist 400 hurdler Trevor Bassitt, 26, said he’d love to join Michael Johnson’s league.

“It seems like a great thing for the sport. … I don’t know anything. But knowing Michael Johnson, I think he knows what he’s doing — pitching to some of those high-level athletes,” he said.

Kirani James, a 31-year-old Grenadian with a set of gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals in the 400-meter dash, hopes to compete until the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

He sees positives in the Johnson league, saying more events could “uplift this sport.”

“By the end of the day, you know, the more track events we have, the better for us athletes because there’s a lot of athletes here that are talented [but] sometimes you can’t get into a Diamond League based on your rankings.

“But that doesn’t mean that you’re not worthy. They can only fill 8-9 lanes.”

Fellow Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz, 34, took third in the 1500 Saturday but plans to hang up his spikes after this season.

Would he consider hanging on another year to compete in the Michael Johnson league?

“Not so much,” Centro said. “I think it kind of compels me to maybe get involved somehow but maybe not racing.”

McLaughlin-Levrone, a two-time Olympian expected to star at the Paris Games, said a lot of things are in the works to build the sport.

“I hope that they can do that,” the 24-year-old said of the 2025 league. “I don’t know all the specifics about everything going on, but I’m sure we’ll find out more and see it unfold in the months to come.”

The Padres jumped on former Friar Nick Martinez immediately Wednesday on the way to a 7-3 win over the Reds.

Martinez, who signed with Cincinnati in the off-season after two years in San Diego, gave up five runs and eight hits in 4.2 innings, and Luis Arraez, hitting lead-off, set the tone with a home run in the first.

The Reds’ Jeimer Candalario tagged starter Michael King with his own solo shot in the bottom of the first, but after that it was all Padres.

They were up 2-1 in the fifth when Luis Campusano started the inning with a single. Four hits later – including run-scoring knocks by Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Jake Cronenworth – they had a more commanding 5-1 lead.

Arraez ended the day with four hits and two RBIs – he drove in the Padres’ final run in the sixth. The win for King evened his record at 4-4, while Martinez fell to 1-3.

Meanwhile, the Padres placed Xander Bogaerts on the IL following his shoulder injury Monday on the team’s final day in Atlanta.

New tests showed he sustained a fracture as he attempted to field a ground ball in the third inning of the first game of a double-header against the Braves. He dived to his left and, grimacing, immediately signaled for help.

Manager Mike Shildt, in remarks to MLB.com, called the news “not as good as we would have hoped, especially after the initial imaging.”

The slumping Bogaerts had shown signs of life recently, but overall, he has four homers on the year while hitting just .219. Arraez and Tyler Wade have stepped in at second base in his absence.

The Padres have a chance to take the series in Cincinnati when Matt Waldron takes the mound Thursday. They then head home to welcome Aaron Judge and the American League East-leading Yankees to begin a six-game home stand.

Tickets remain for all three games, with the best availability Friday and Saturday.

San Diego State University plays host to the 2024 Mountain West Baseball Championship, beginning Thursday at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

After 30 games of conference play, Air Force, New Mexico, San José State and Fresno State clinched spots in the four-team double-elimination tournament, which will be held on the Mesa for the sixth time in the league’s 25-year history. SDSU last hosted two years ago.

The Aztecs (17-37, 10-20 MW) finished last in the conference and did not make the tournament. Nevada and UNLV also did not qualify.

Second-seeded New Mexico (28-24, 17-13 MW) battles No. 3 seed San José State (22-31, 16-14 MW) in the tournament opener at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Regular-season conference champion, No. 1 seed Air Force (26-26, 18-12 MW), squares off against fourth-seeded Fresno State (29-26, 16-14) at 6 p.m.

 Games are set through 6 p.m. Saturday, with a 1 p.m. game Sunday if needed.

Both games on Thursday represent rematches of last weekend’s final regular-season series. San José State took two of three games at home from New Mexico, while Air Force registered a home sweep of Fresno State.

Overall, the Spartans and Lobos split their six meetings during the 2024 campaign, while the Falcons held a 4-2 advantage against the Bulldogs.

Seating at Tony Gwynn Stadium is general admission. Individual day tickets start at $12, with all-session passes at $40.

In addition, the Mountain West Network will provide live coverage of the championship.

The winner of the MW Championship secures the league’s automatic berth for NCAA regional competition, beginning May 31 at various campus sites.