Bill Walton: Blazers see Lakers as ‘No. 1 rival’

Bill Walton sat down with Mark Medina of the OC Register for a lengthy interview entailing everything from his playing days in Portland, to recovery, to Maurice Lucas and more. The interview wandered (in a good way) around like a Walton telecast, but did feature an interesting tidbit regarding the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to Walton, the Blazers hold the Lakers in a special light. The sentiment probably isn’t mutual, given how many teams feel this way about the Lakers, but it is interesting to hear it from arguably Portland’s greatest player.

Here’s how he put it.

“The Lakers are the Blazers’ No. 1 rival. The Blazers made it very clear they like nothing better than beating the Lakers,” Walton told Southern California News Group. “To have the game on (national TV) is special.”

So, the Blazers join the Kings, Suns, Clippers and basically a quarter of the league in this endeavor of seeing the Lakers as a rival without being met halfway. Still, this relationship that exists throughout the league makes for additional fun on any given night in the Lakers’ schedule with the downside being it’s that much harder to catch teams off guard.

The Lakers play the Blazers Wednesday night at 7:30 PM PST on ESPN. Also, make sure you read the rest of Medina’s interview with Walton. It’s well worth your time.