Bill Walton once compared Nikola Jokic to Martin Luther King

The NBA community — and the world — just lost a great man. The legendary Bill Walton was one of a kind, and his basketball skills were only topped his kindness, his way with words, and his love for the Grateful Dead.

A champion in college and then with the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers, Walton stayed involved with the game for the remainder of his long and incredible life.

Upon his passing, the internet got flooded with countless stories, takes, and clips of Walton and the countless lives he touched and subjects he addressed. Notably, one in particular caught the eye of NBA fans.

Bill Walton’s Take On Nikola Jokic Was Incredible

Back in 2018, the legendary big man tipped his hat to Nikola Jokic. Him being the kind and loving person he was, he had nothing but great things to say about his Serbian colleague.

Nikola Jokic of Denver Nuggets

Walton had a unique way of comparing basketball to life itself. That’s why he found so much beauty in Jokic’s game, going as far as to compare him with the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela:

“When you see someone like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi, someone who sees the future before anyone else does, knows how to get to where they need to be, where they want to be, that is Nikola Jokic. Happiness begins when selfishness ends. In a game that has been taken over by incessant dribbling for yourself, Nikola Jokic is such a breath of fresh air. And it’s his imagination. Watching him play basketball is like watching Bob Dylan come up with a song,” said Walton.

The NBA legend didn’t stop there. He doubled down on his take by claiming that the world would be so much better if people approached life in the same way Jokic plays basketball:

“He’s a beautiful player who plays a mental game. He has what seems to have been lost in the world, which is peripheral vision. When you walk down the street in life, when you drive a car in life, when you ride a bike in the world on a street, it is staggering the lack of peripheral vision. But Nikola Jokic is the antidote to so many of our problems in the world,” Walton concluded.

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Bill Walton will go down as one of the most talented players in basketball history, even if his prime was short-lived because of injuries. But more than that, he’ll be remembered for this unique way to think and live his life to the fullest.