Wyden urges Trail Blazers to honor memories of Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas with statue outside Moda Center

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Senator Ron Wyden wrote in The Sunday Oregonian about the recent passing of Bill Walton and advocated for the Portland Trail Blazers to honor this iconic player’s memory on and off the floor with a statue outside the Moda Center of Walton and Maurice Lucas, who teamed up to lead the Trail Blazers to the NBA championship in 1977..

“Let generations to come commemorate the achievements on and off the court of two men who truly were trailblazers,” Wyden wrote in his op-ed.

Wyden wrote how Walton’s on-the-court accomplishments deservedly secured him a timeless place in the hearts of Blazers Nation and a spot in basketball’s Hall of Fame, but that “just as important is the trail Bill blazed off the court – never willing to be silent and always ready to use his platform as a player to speak out against injustice and for the equal treatment of both Black Americans and Native Americans, as well as to protect our Earth.”

And Wyden also wrote how in the Trail Blazers’ championship 1976-77 season, Walton and new teammate Maurice Lucas befriended each other – a white man and a Black man who powered Portland to a title and demonstrated the strength of friendship and teamwork between two talented men of different races.

“Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas – who died of cancer in 2010 – are no longer with us. Those of us fortunate enough to have cheered for these men and to have admired them will always cherish our memories,” Wyden wrote. “But I’m hoping for more. I’m hoping the Trail Blazers will see fit to honor Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas with a statue outside the Moda Center.”