Ralph Sampson Rumors

Walton credited his passing skills to coach John Wooden, who, during his freshman season at UCLA, put Walton in the high post and told him to stay there. Walton became frustrated that all he was doing was passing and setting screens. He grumbled to Wooden, who “would have none of my complaints,” Walton wrote. “I didn’t believe it at the time, but it turned out that playing the high post that entire freshman season was the best thing in the world for me,” Walton wrote. “It allowed me to develop skills that I would need as I moved up to each new level of competition. … “Later, when I found myself matched against the tallest players in the game, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Artis Gilmore or Ralph Sampson, I could step out to the perimeter, forcing them to come guard me. More times than not, that opened passing lanes for others to score.”