Walton speaks

As part of ESPN's three-hour NBA Finals preview today -- a SportsCenter special that flashes back to the Lakers' 1987 Game 6 win over Boston, the last time the two franchises met in the finals -- special guests have come on to talk about the past and the future.
And there was a Bill Walton sighting.
The former NBA great, who has been battling back problems "the last 14 weeks and one day," he said on the broadcast -- enough to go back and miss UCLA's appearance in the Final Four last April -- addressed the mixed emotions he has watching the Celtics, whom he played for from 1985-87 at the tail end of his injury-prone career, face the Lakers, where his son, Luke, plays.
"I'm a Celtic, and I have been a Celtic my entire life," Walton said, trying to keep a straight face.
"The Celtics were the team that inspired me to play the way I did play, along with John Wooden and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) ... Bill Russell was my favorite player of all time, on and off the court ... the way they all played ... K.C. Jones, who was the most like John Wooden of any coach that I ever played for ...
"The Celtics, they just didn't give me my career back, they gave me my life back."
But ...
"I'm also a dad. A very proud and a very lucky dad. And like every dad, I want what's best for my son, Luke."