Reflecting on Chet Walkers legacy with the Bulls

Reflecting on Chet Walkers legacy with the Bulls

[Music] welcome into the bull Talk podcast I am Casey Johnson I’m pleased to be joined today by my former colleague and current friend Sam Smith of bulls.com Sam how are you doing just a current friend huh okay all those years you are faking all right I’m I’m good with that so Sam is in rare form as we can see but uh we are presented by Toyota Let’s Go Places and uh we are actually here to talk uh Sam we get this humor out of the way and then we’ll get serious here because we’re yeah you know I don’t watch podcast so I know we we appreciate you being on but we we are delving into the Life and Legacy of Chad Walker and who better to be on the podcast to talk about that then Sam who is like Chad Walker a Hall of Famer nay Smith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and also got to know Chad very well in his uh later years so I think we’ I think I want to start Sam with kind of the beginning and um his trade to the Bulls and his impact as a basketball player we’re going to get into the off of the court stuff in a little bit but I I think people need to be educated about how impactful of a person this was both on and off the court so let’s start on the court um take us back to those early days of the bulls and uh his impact as a player overall it obviously starts long before before that uh you know chat was part of you know what some people consider the greatest team in NBA history I know not Bulls fans um you know but also and it’s a players thing too I’ve noticed um I get tell you one quick story that you’d appreciate and because you know I don’t uh you know speak linear so um you know I may not answer any of your questions depending on what I’m going to say but you appreciate this one because involves your buddy Jamal Crawford did I tell you that story about ched and M Crawford no and I know most of your stories I do not know this one yeah so but this it gives a it gives an indication of Chad so this was I don’t know 15 10 15 years ago chess living in LA and Jamal was in LA and he lit they he literally ran into him I think it was at the bank something like that and so you know uh Chad knows who he is and knows he’s a player and he starts talking talking to Jamal and says about you know that he played he played with the bulls and Jamal’s talking about playing with the bulls and said well you know I I scored 50 points playing with the bulls and ched goes well you know I had 56 and Jamal goes who are you again had no idea he was which is common not only you know some public but a lot of the players who talk about you know the history of the game and they really don’t you know Chad Chad’s 56 points he he’s the scored the most points in Bull’s history other than Michael Jordan um you know when he set that record 56 in 1972 it’s a great story he had made the All-Star Game basically every season uh with the bulls but there was some I forget what it was in 72 there was something and they had to get some other guys on the team uh who hadn’t been on the team so they kind of left him off and so the first game after the allar break it’s like okay I’ll show you guys and he gets 56 which is still higher than anybody other than Michael Jordan’s ever had with the bulls so it it just tells you how how prolific a scorer he was and such an understated guy you know he was probably you know we always talk about you know underrated and overlooked and said you know on part was uh sort of his court personality was sort of lowkey but he was the go-to he was the finisher guy with the bulls you know but I’ll just go back quickly you know uh grew up I mean he born in Mississippi but grew up in the to and the Great Migration came to Michigan you know with a lot of black families from the south uh High School all the All-American stuff played against Dave the busher you know won the uh was in the title game State title game against the busher had you know legendary High School matchups against him in the same draft you know the 62 draft was a great draft the busher havich John Lucas and uh you know chat was uh all rookie first team from that draft one of the great drafts you know in history um and then goes into Syracuse Nationals to play with Johnny uh Johnny Kerr was still with the Syracuse they moved to Philadelphia as the Sixers Chang their name when the Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco to become St San Francisco warriors in Golden State and so you know that team that Philadelphia team in the early uh early 60s with Hal Greer uh Wilt Chad you know as this kind of big three with Billy Cunningham come up the bench you know by far you know they obviously the Celtics dominated in that era uh they broke the Celtics run of eight straight titles the year they did it 6667 I think the league record was 60 wins they won 68 and basically you know not like modern you know nobody was counting down 70 and all that kind of stuff and it didn’t mean anything so kind of late in the season the team you know that 20 games up on basically everybody they all went to Vegas and I think they lost three out of four or four out of five you know they easily would have could have if it was if it was a modern era and and everybody was saying oh could you win 70 72 break the record team probably could have won 74 75 games they were that dominant so anyway um it eventually gets broken up you know the 98 Bulls were not the only team that got broken up in history so this Championship Sixers team gets broken up Wilt wants to be traded gets to La where he went finally won a title with Jer Jerry West won a title and Pat Williams who was a business manager uh as we know you know was worked for the Bulls uh famously the magic um gets offered a bulls GM job and his first literally his first day on the job his first thing is you know the trade for chat Walker and that essentially was the beginning of the you know the first credibility for the Bulls franchise because uh in history Chicago had been this NBA graveyard teams that failed zeph Packers in the early 60s moved to Baltimore Washington you know now the Wizards uh M’s team in Chicago long before that uh broke up that’s how Mike you know with uh Joliet and depal ends up in Minnesota with the Lakers and so the NBA doesn’t really want to be in Chicago and anyway they reluctantly come in 66 get a franchise and even though they were you know relatively good for an expansion team they’re still 10 15 games under 500 and Chad comes in that first year they kind of turn around get close to 500 and they bring in Norm Dan leers with Bob love and that team goes on this tremendous run probably one of the great underrated teams in NBA history probably the most feared team in the era Sloan and Van leer most toughest back court in the league Jerry West wal Frasier all the great the guards hated to play against him didn’t want any part of him really uh physical team and then ched and Bob love up front played unusual offense for the time era because they have a low post Center uh and it’s and it’s why they didn’t win a title they were in the west Bulls were in the Western Conference then and Milwaukee has Jabar um Lakers had Chamberlain and you know that’s sort of the dominant teams and as good as Tom Bor Winkle was as a high post Center it was tough to compete against basically the two greatest centers in NBA history so that team really came up short as good as they were just because they played against you know sort of Oscar like Oscar playing against Russell’s Celtics with eight Hall of Famers um but chat was the uh was the go-to guy was the finisher you know everybody who admires uh deard de rozan now that was what chat did back then head fakes ball fakes um played along the Baseline uh sort of like you know sort of a version of Elan Balor at the time who was but you know probably the greatest the great scorer in the league other than wilted at again and so just a really dominant dominant offensive figure so those uh obviously those impactful Bulls teams um in the 70s that deck ma coached were from my formative years but I’m in elementary school so that’s very early for me but I remember watching those teams and with such admiration um can you describe kind of how Chad assimilated himself or his personality amongst his teammates how he fit in with his teammates and and also his relationship with dick m which obviously got strained yeah Chad Chad and M although although you know Chad was a very bright knowledge what we call a high IQ player now but he was also you know that was a very emotional team you know Jerry West I mean Jerry Sloan and Norm van leer probably were more technicals kicked out of as many gam since anybody in the league at the time between the fights they were getting you know that was an ERA where fighting was so accepted you get in a fight and you got like a $25 fine and you kept playing you know there was no was suspensions if you at least if you didn’t like kill somebody so you know so you had a highly emotional team you know and then he with B love who you know at the time we know love story but he you know barely can communicate you know he’s still when he’s playing um with his stutter so you know chat was sort of the spokesman for the you know basically for the team even though uh Jerry you know was kind of Ma’s favorite sort of Ma’s pet kind of thing you know CH was sort of the piecemaker on the team kind of a quiet leader things even at the end it really when it came apart at the end it was they lose in the seventh game this is to me one one of the most incredible stories and talks about it it was not a positive story but you know so the Bulls lose game seven they have a 3-2 lead um against Golden State in uh 1975 in the Conference Finals going to go to the finals going to Wi be Champions Golden State ends up going and sweeping the Baltimore Bullets 40 to win the title and so the Bulls that season they like I said they have a 3-2 lead playing game six at home they lose that game six and then they lose game seven at the end of game seven ma goes in the locker room uh that year and had holdouts were common at the time uh for salary both van leer and love held out started the season late and the Bulls ended the season started started the season slowly they end up the season with one fewer win than Golden State which game Golden State game seven at home Ma accuses van leer and love of costing the team the chance to win the title and in the postgame locker room you know we’re not exactly like these current black rooms are saying how proud We are the guys M says you know because of you Bob and Norm we didn’t get homec court advantage so the rest of you guys should not give them any uh any of their playoff share so it’s a complete meltdown of this team you know literally they’re on the verge of fighting to finish it out and so Chad’s trying to sort of be Peacemaker keep this thing going you know but it was that was really the end for Ma you the next season they end up with Chad left at the end of n75 you know it always told me he felt he was black ball and may have been given his activism uh and what went on at the time um but is out of basketball and the Bulls win 24 games the next season even though and they were injured a lot but Sloan V leer and love are still with the team but the bottom really fell out after that you know sort of locker room scene in game seven and then chat with his sort of moderating Personality uh leaving the team and also you know the offense he supplied to finish games yeah so we’re going to get into the off the court stuff in a second and his activism and and his uh importance to uh modern NBA free agency in a bit but before we wrap up or we get to that I want to wrap up the on the court stuff and you know for those of those of you who are bulls fans that are maybe of my age or Sam’s age or in in between you know a lot about Chet Walker but hopefully for those young fans that are kind of learning a little bit about how impactful of a life he led I think what I want you to do Sam is kind of describe just how important those teams were in the 70s those Chicago Bulls teams were to the city of Chicago you mentioned that kind of being the first big era of Bulls basketball but why do you think those teams resonated so much and why were they so important to the city of Chicago yeah I think you know it’s a good point because uh you know Chicago especially but a lot of cities like to identify their teams with sort of blue collar you know players that represent who we are and even though Chicago has had you know and celebrated you know the sort of the most famous player and the most beautiful player in Michael Jordan and everything you know the community still react you know Joe Kim Noah Dennis Rodman all those kind of stuff always reacts to the blue collar hard hat physical kind of player that represents City ofroad shoulders things that are said about Chicago and this team you know this Bulls team was was the you know definition of that you know because the NBA at the time is dominated by its Wilt and uh Kareem in the West in the East it’s you know Nick the famous Nick teams with Frasier and Reed and all these Stars even Baltimore you know Washington’s got Earl Monroe and West sunell and here’s this incredible hard hat group of guys you know Jerry Jerry Sloan uh in the expansion draft Norman van leer a third round pick Bob love was it fourth or fifth round pick whatever you know Chet is probably the highest uh you know pretty much pick but the way they played physical uh to the point of like I said before NBA teams the stars of the game Jerry West would come in Frasier all these cool kind of guys and would be complaining all the time oh you know jumped in front of me all you know Sloan’s running wit used to go nuts because Sloan would run up and you know wil’s coming down court and he would jump in front of him to draw a charge you know and wils wanting to fight Sloan uh famously you know Norm got in his incredible fight with Sydney Wicks you know the UCLA star and is running across the court with a chair in his hand chasing Sydney up into the crowd you know so you know th this team was sort of your blood and guts tough kind of team that a community could really uh you know not only recognize but appreciate and sort of revent and and it it it was a Chicago you know it was a Chicago love AFF they are kind of a team and the fact that they didn’t win is what ultimately is why it’s gotten overlooked in the past but you know to me it’s other other than the champion Bulls of those couple of years that that was as good as it’s been with the bulls you mentioned uh that he left the Bulls after that 75 um you know Western Conference Finals loss and that later he opine that he felt he’d been blacklisted and um I actually only interviewed Chad uh once in my career it was early in my career and he was very open about that because it was one of the first things he told me um and uh I know you had a very close relationship with we’re going to get into that in a little bit in the waning years of his life but talk our listeners kind of through from 75 on you know what happened with Chad and he even told me that he thought that that delayed his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame as well um not only did it cost him maybe a job after 7 but delayed his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame so um what happened and and why would why did he feel he was blacklisted yeah I don’t know if that was the case with the Hall of Fame you know certainly was overdue and but guys get overlooked uh you know Hall of Fame is so Eastern biased you know that’s the other thing you know a lot of the NBA players over the years always you know have called it the New York Boston hall of fame um you know because you know I mean no offense but a lot of those mix players shouldn’t be aren’t Hall of Fame kind of level players um same with basically everybody with Boston so there was no question you know Chad had some bitterness and I understand you know a lot of it what happened at the end was you know the Robertson case he was one of the plaintiffs as the Bulls player rep uh sued the league um created the first you know basic free agency you know basketball started before baseball uh did in seeking free agency and these guys were real Pioneers in the sports labor movement and before anybody uh chat was very outspoken you know in that had been involved activist um I mean when he was with Philadelphia got involved in an anti- aarthi thing with South Africa which the management like condemned him about told him he can’t do it he said I don’t care so you know he was very um you know was close with Ali uh made a you know you know movie TV whatever it was you know series um so he he’s done with the bulls in 75 and he’s still a highly productive player he was second leading score on the team averaging 19 points um but he wants a Le and so the Robertson suit hadn’t been settled yet and the Bulls basically tell him you know you’re off property well that was all he had of here you know I’m no one’s property and I’m retiring if you think that’s the case and basically he just he just walked away you know because all the other doors were closed uh because of free agency the you know NBA even though they settled the Robertson suit in 76 they were losing in court and and the the player association essentially ran out of money to to continue the cases so they settled but the league fought it for a long time you know they they brought in all sorts of uh uh compensation rules that that that made it almost impossible to sort of become a free agent for a couple of years that the league you and it was David Stern early on was at a league attorney and then eventually went to work for the league as their inh housee attorney um but the league came up with rules that that with compensation if the teams couldn’t agree on it the commissioner would pick it and it would be so severe that teams would be reluctant to get to go after the free agent so it really took a while into late 70s and early 80s before free agency and that you know even started to get serious I mean I think bird there was one time with bird being a free agent there was no offers or whatever um so anyway so he didn’t have an opportunity uh really to go anywhere and he and he and he had become alienated with the bulls he he didn’t like we talked about ma before the interesting part of that Ma thing he he didn’t have great regard for Ma but Ma relied on him quite a bit right ma would go to him about plays what are we going to run now so they had like a working relationship didn’t like much like each other uh and you know changed a little over the years um but you know Chad was such a knowledgeable basketball guy that M would rely on him a lot of time for plays at down the stretch what do we want to run now and M to his credit was a good coach really you know brought in an unusual system for the year fall when everyone’s playing to Lowel centers and that did give teams a lot of trouble you know and so he was very Innovative coach also um you know but it’s and I forgot where I was going here but you know Chad said look uh I don’t I don’t I don’t stand for being told what I have to do given the way I grew up given what I knew in Mississippi and all that kind of stuff and so he decided I’ll find something and he ends up in this incredible career and in La goes out and produces uh movies like I said work with Ali I think one of his first uh projects and then and then was taken by Isaiah Thomas’s mom’s story about the gangs and trying to recruit her kids and you know that Mary Thomas Story one on Emmy so uh you know had some you know incredible success early on to go from you know an Allstar highlevel basketball player eventual Hall of Famer you know to a sort of a Hall of Fame movie producer um you wrote a book called uh hard labor the battle that birth the billion dollar NBA in in your research and and reporting for that book um how much did chett kind of take pride and and you know obviously Oscar Robertson gets kind of most ofly credit but how much did he take pride in your conversations with him over the years um in in kind of helping user in you know the lucrative era that that NBA basketball has become the sad part you know I I don’t know if I ever mentioned that to you you know thanks for mentioning the book um proud of the book I think it’s a great NBA history because I kind of went back in the 50s and 60s and very an but the inspiration for the book was really chat in a lot of respects because frankly toward the end of his life you know he he was he was having a lot of financial problems and I was trying to send a message to the players and the era because I decided to do it when that that last new big TV contract came in and now we hear we can hear in this next one’s going to be incredible but the last one was sort of the one that you know like like League franchise values all of a sudden you know went from like 400 million to two billion because of Balmer and that and so that was right around the same time with this new TV deal where all of a sudden you know the minimum salaries like 800,000 and then it’s 3 million and guys are getting making 30 and 40 million and what happened with a lot of the players like Chad from that era because nobody knew what was going to happen I mean the NBA didn’t know what happened they gave these guys from the ABA to sers in St Louis you know one sth of TV revenues in perpetuity they turn these guys into billionaires you know because they wouldn’t let the St Louis spirits in the league they ended up uh four teams came in and they had to buy their ways in cylinders didn’t want to so they said I we’ll just give you like one sth of the revenue TV revenues at the time which were essentially zero and became this you know incredible windfall so what a lot of the players did in the early 80s they had the option of getting um lump sum payouts with their pensions instead of their pensions so chat was one of them who took a lump suum payment but once you took the lump suum then you were eliminated from all these incredible increases that win in the NBA pensions are hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and so all those guys like Chad didn’t get any of it and so I was trying to make the point to the players of the current ERA that you know what your brri is 49 or 50% what it is make it make it 49.5% and give these guys a half a percent and and you basically take care they’ll take care of them for the rest of their lives and I will say the Players Association did a lot of stuff and it helped out chat and did but it was the players a lot of the players wouldn’t with that kind of thing and they ended up freezing out a lot of these players who you know a lot of very proud and didn’t want to admit the financial problems they were having but a lot of them were having tough times including Chad um you know if you’re making $200,000 in 1975 I think what she was it doesn’t go a lot it it doesn’t last 50 years as big as it was at the time and it sounded like you know and it sounded like millionaires or whatever at the time you know that it it doesn’t last like that if you’re not getting so anyway so that that was sort of the Genesis of it and uh you know trying to send the message to you know we know a lot of young people in in in general don’t don’t know history American history a lot of the NBA players I don’t think through all the talk don’t understand the history of the league and don’t appreciate truly what these guys did because they put their careers on the line in that suit they basically said we’re taking not only we’re taking our employers to court but we’re taking in the Congress too you know they went they went before Congressional subcommittee Sam Irvin Watergate Fame was the subcommittee chairman who presided over those hearings where you know Chad and John havich and the busher and these guys came in Rick Barry and and uh you know made cases against the NBA so it was an incredible risk to take at a time where there wasn’t guaranteed contracts you know if you were a first round pick you you got to make good contract you could be you could be a top 10 pick and be cut in training camp which happened fairly often so you know the these guys were real pioneers and put their careers on the line for what you know obviously the NBA is grown into this incredible monolith and you know incredible League tremendously successful but you know these are the guys who provided the foundation for you know the incredible building that exists now that’s well said um just just two more and I loved your Demar D rozan comp earlier because I mean I mean all you got to do is go back and look at some film I mean not only in terms of his clutch scoring but the pump fake along the Baseline I can still see that as a 10-year-old um so yeah man that’s that’s a great com but um you know invariably we’d be in La uh on a road trip and you tell me you know the next day be like hey do anything and you like oh yeah I caught up with had lunch with chat or something it’s like it really was a friendship you guys formed and I know part of it obviously was the reporting for the book and just your your your your longstanding desire to almost have a duty to to inform people of NBA history and make sure it stays alive which I’ve always appreciated but what did you appreciate about your relationship with Chad as you mve through the years yeah thank yeah I appreciate you saying that um yeah I it’s it’s not so much sort of a duty but I I really I always appreciate the pioneers of anything in the game I have an appreciation for history but you especially in sports I think it gets forgotten about um and what what happens you know sort of the old thing about when the cheering stops you know it I mean it does become sort of a lonely thing that you know whatever you do whatever field you’re in and once you walk away you know I remember that and you remember as my dutiful biographer like when I left the Tribune like everybody called that day and then for the next three months only you called so people from and and it happens with the greatest players as well too and so I’ve always wanted to because partially because my interest and I always wanted to keep in touch with them and but I always want these guys to know that they’re they’re appreciated and and and people remember what they do and so you know because Chad had this great history with the bulls and you know had the sort of uncomfortable departure um you know I was able to get to know him and then actually for several years he’s been in poor health for three or four years I I would visit him when we were in La like you said I would have lunch I invite him to the games I was always kind of disappointed too I would I would ask you know players or coaches you know invite them to a shoot around or something players and it was hard to get them to do that you know I understand they got a lot going on and busy or whatever um but I so what happened over like I mean literally now Chad’s had like you you referred to it too Chad had some bitterness too about stuff you know he he he and he kind of fell in a difficult sort of situation he played six years with the Sixers and seven with the bulls you know and so sort of the Bulls at times looked at him as sixer because he won a title A and the Sixers looked at him as a bull because he was there more years so NE neither organization retired his jersey and he kind of felt hurt by that and so we would talk he would call me sometime four four or five times a week uh talk about stuff and then he would go have you heard anything about my jersey retired and I I don’t think they’re G to do that sh I you know they’re not much on retiring jury so that’s why he really appreciated it was the end of his life and but that Ring of Honor thing last year last uh January whenever it was um he course couldn’t attend couldn’t travel anymore but um he really did appreciate it um you know the Bulls that was that was that was a great thing the Bulls did for some of those guys and you know we we made sure he got the trophy um I talked to him after that and you know he was grateful of the acknowledgement and you know that’s the other thing too I think people underestimate H how much these guys not only not necessarily want to relive their Glory but you know how much they appreciate if you remember if you acknowledge what they did because you know at the time it sort of passes quickly it goes so fast you’re involved in controversies and issues and fights with this guy or the coach or whatever and then you’re gone and so always interesting guy you know he had these great story he and Wilt used to travel uh together like every summer he would go he would go to Europe with wilt and he would tell these stories about he and Wilt on the road and then at one time they would come back for the uh you know the famous Stokes game where they had a kers up in New York and they flew back and the plane Got Hijacked uh back in the 70s they hijacked planes but didn’t do what they did later on and so the plane actually went to Chicago the hijackers sort of got off and Wilt said well I can’t miss this game my Stokes and that was a big thing for NBA players to support Stokes and because they had to support to each other there was no League support you know there was no pensions and the players took care of each other back then and so Wilt was determined to get there rented a plane flew in to kers to to the game made sure not to miss the game so just incredible stuff of you know like I said uh traveling around with Ali traveling around with wilt which is interesting political situations too because Ali with you know Muslim Wilt was a backer of Richard Nixon so you know and Chet was an activist you know as well so you could imagine some of those conversation so guy really he lived an incredible and interesting life and you know he was was just a benefit to me be able to be around them here his stories here his history um not that I’m doing a promotion but so I’m working on a book now with Phil Jackson and the idea is you know to collect some of these stories because these guys are not going to be around along and once they go all these great stories and these great histories you know sort of move on and so you sort of you know I feel like an obligation in some sense you know to to keep their legacies going by not only remembering who they were but keeping their sto you know continuing to tell their stories that’s great uh last one um you know we’ve kind of touched on this but given how impactful of a career he had on the court and also his significance off of it I know he’s in the Basketball Hall of Fame but would you consider him one of the more underappreciated Superstars or underappreciated like impactful NBA players of all time absolutely with Chad and I think that’s why and you referred to it too before about you know why it took so long to get into the Hall of Fame because he you know he basically checked every box you know he was he was the dominant player on a highly successful team uh he did win a championship you know previously you know the Bulls thing I think because they you know I’ve been on some of these committees with the Hall of Fame and it’s interesting even some of the people who serve on them don’t really know and they sort of go and look at the stats and they say well did he wi you know it’s sort of the tiebreaker if you didn’t win the if you didn’t win the championship you sort of you know you don’t get you don’t get the recognition sometimes with the guy that does even though you’re you know you’re a better player contributed more but also you know he was in the Vanguard of that first wave of great black players who basically created the modern NBA Bill Russell came in 56 but it was really the 5960 early 60s group you know Oscar and Wilt and you know Baylor and all those guys and and you know that really changed the character of of not only what the NBA sort of was what like baseball on allwhite league and not only that but you know guys shooting you know two hand set shots and you know it turned into the modern athletic NBA game that sort of still exists today Elgen Baylor doing the stuff that uh you know went from Dr J to Michael Jordan uh Wilt Oscar Robertson is you know as good a point guard to me you know still the greatest point guard in history um like I said Elgen Bale Jerry West shooting you know sort of I mean if you watch Steph Curry that’s how Jerry West shot the ball he would just sort of propel himself out of this stance it wasn’t sort of a drop pull up and shoot the sort of the same way the curry set so you know not that these guys are not great they are great and it’s phenomenal players in the NBA’s Evolution has been remarkable but these players back you know in the late 50s and early 60s really created you know that NBA and Chad was a part of that great group with his uh you know with with like you say is play that uh you know we we even see elements of it today in Demar D Ro in every game like any self-respecting sports writer I lied I have one more question did you ever talk to uh Michael Jordan about chat Walker no when would you find Michael Jordan to talk about no I mean just like while you’re were covering him I mean obviously he broke some of shat scoring record so I wonder if it just came up in any it’s an interesting thing and I did bring that up one time I don’t I you know I didn’t call it but I you know I used to bring up stuff like that with Jordan you know you know you know J what Jordan liked I don’t think people you know always understand that with the great players um they don’t they don’t really like uh you know being told how great they are everyone says oh yeah but they they kind of like being challenge especially Michael you know he he he really enjoyed you know and you we’ve seen it over the years and last dance and all that stuff he enjoyed the challenge of the debate he enjoyed the challenge of being told Kobe too Kobe was much like that you tell him he can’t do something and no matter how hard it was he would keep trying it until he did it to show you that he could do it you know and same you know Michael Michael as well so I remember at times I would you know bring up something that that ched had done of course it was tough with Michael because I’d say well you know ched at 56 you said why 69 so you know was it was it was tough to top Michael in a lot of stuff especially because that team hadn’t won but Michael Michael did understand and appreciate a lot of the history he he was aware he was aware of more than you thought he was when you bring up something like that you know with ched or Jerry Sloan or um you know it’s like it’s like almost sometimes he didn’t want to admit it but he but he kind of knew it and uh you know he had great respect for those guys he is Sam Smith you can find his work at bulls.com you have been listening to the Bullock podcast we are presented by Toyota Let’s Go Places and Sam as I said when I brought you in there’s nobody better to talk about Chet Walker passed at 84 after a life well live both on and off the court we certainly appreciate your time today Sam well I especially love the way you read the commercials that’s real that’s that’s really that’s good stuff you got a career that because I know you got to do that on these podcasts nice work we’ve come a long way from our Tribune days I know can imagine us trying that at the Tribune we’d have both been fired on the spot but we digress anyway thank you very much for your time Sam and again you can check out his work at bulls.com he’ll have Draft preview stuff as will we at nbcsports chicago.com but we certainly appreciate you listen to the Bulls Talk podcast and we will catch you next time all right now that’s over I want to tell you the three keys to being a real Chicago sports fan it takes guts sacrifice and downloading the NBC Sports Chicago app when there’s highlights you can pounce on them when there’s exclusive insights you listen and take notes and you won’t get blindsided with the push alerts so download it

Hall of Famer and former Bulls great Chet Walker passed at 84. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, and his final six was with the Bulls. What kind of impact did he have in those six years? Legendary Bulls writer Sam Smith joins K.C. Johnson to discuss what made Walker a Bulls great. Smith discusses Walker’s 56-point night after being snubbed from the All-Star team (3:20). He also discussed who he was on and off the court (9:00), his delayed induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame (17:19) and his life after basketball (25:00). Get to know the legendary Bull Chet Walker on this episode of the Bulls Talk Podcast!

#ChicagoBulls #ChetWalker #NBA

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