Pollock: Bill Walton was a basketball staple when he played against the Buffalo Braves

A column by CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun senior sports columnist

The passing of Bill Walton last week made me reflect on my 5 1/2 year stint covering the Buffalo Braves for the Olean Times Herald.

The Braves were welcomed into the NBA for the 1970-71 season – along with the Trailblazers and Cavaliers – and the TH covered every home game throughout its eight years. There was, of course, a good reason: Buffalo’s vice president and general manager was a certain Eddie Donovan. He was a St. Bonaventure alum who, after playing for the Bonnies, coached Olean High for four years and then the Bonnies for eight years with four NIT and one NCAA bids.

The New Jersey native was hired as general manager of the Knicks after leaving Bona and later drafted Bill Bradley, Cazzie Russell, Walt Frazier and Willis Reed and traded for Dave DeBusschere and Dick Barnett, a key crew for that NBA title in 1970.

This championship led to the hiring of Donovan by the expansion Braves.

For the TH it was a gift, given that he was so well known in Olean and the Southern Tier and Buffalo was a 75 minute drive away, covering the team was a no-brainer.

CHUCK WARD held this responsibility for two and a half years before leaving the sports department to take over as editorial director of TH. The Braves’ momentum fell to the new rookie, yours truly, for the second half of the 72-73 season until the franchise’s demise in 1977-78.

I learned so much from Donovan about how the NBA works and he introduced me to many high-level people. And when he had something sensitive to say to me, he would whisper it out of the corner of his mouth. He was extraordinarily loyal to a guy from his adopted hometown. Unfortunately, my relationship with him ended prematurely after the 1974-75 season, the Braves’ second straight postseason campaign.

Donovan was at odds with owner Paul Snyder who was having his own issues securing dates at the Aud because the Sabers and Canisius College weren’t exactly cooperative.

Donovan gave up on returning to the Knicks in a personal role and Snyder sold the team to John Y. Brown, former owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Married to CBS sports host Phyllis George, he eventually became governor of Kentucky. His only previous, admittedly dubious, sports entrepreneurship was as owner of the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels. He became a pariah in his home state by abandoning popular players with high salaries. He showed the same lack of empathy when Buffalo dismantled a playoff roster and filled it with wannabes and never-borns.

After the 77-78 season, Brown “traded” the Braves for the Boston Celtics whose owner, Irv Levin, wanted to own a team in his home state of California. Knowing he would never get an expansion franchise, he moved the Braves to San Diego and they became the Clippers. Today you know them as the LA Clippers.

ALWAYS, I I feel privileged to have covered the Braves for 5½ seasons, three of which ended with playoff berths, and I covered their 22 postseason games in person.

When they were at their best (1973-76) the Aud was the place to be…huge crowds and a building that vibrated.

And that got me thinking about Walton, one of the three go-to players during my time covering the team. The others were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee and LA Lakers) and Pete Maravich (Atlanta and New Orleans.

Oddly, as great a player as Jabbar was, he didn’t attract the fans like the other two did. Many saw him as a one-trick pony: a great inside scorer with his “sky hook” and a dominant rebounder. Walton and Maravich were considered multi-faceted players.

Maravich never played in the Aud with Atlanta when I covered the team, but he was there four times with New Orleans.

Walton was 2 of 8 in games in Buffalo during my tenure. Keep in mind that he only played 468 games out of a potential 1,148 (41%) due to injury and missed three full seasons due to foot/leg issues.

And the biggest outcry among Braves fans was over the six games he missed in Buffalo.

(Chuck Pollock, senior sports columnist for the Wellsville Sun, can be reached at [email protected].)

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