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As the winning continued at U.C.L.A., Ted and Gloria often drove up from La Mesa to watch the big games. Gloria was not sure that she liked all the success. When U.C.L.A. squeaked by Maryland earlier this year, Bill's mother remarked, "Well, I just think winning all the time is immoral."
Ted has a different concern: the vast sums of money that Bill will soon be offered to sign with the pros. "Bill has barely taken his first big steps in life," says his father. "There's no reason he shouldn't go to graduate school for a few years." In fact, Bill often talks of teaching as a career.
On Notice. But professional basketball teams are prepared to pay Bill handsomely to forget about more school: $3 million in salary and benefits at last count. That was the offer made by the Philadelphia 76ers last year to lure Walton out of school. He refused, putting both pro leagues on notice that he will play nowhere but in Southern California. "If I can't," he says, "I'll do other things. I don't want a lot of contradictions in my life."
That presents an unusual problem for the leagues. With the N.B. A. Los Angeles Lakers or the A.B.A. San Diego Conquistadors unlikely to finish this season with the worst record in their respective leagues, neither team will get the chance to pick first in the draft. That means Walton's desires can only be satisfied by some fancy maneuvering. In the A.B.A., for instance, one scenario might go this way: the Memphis Tarns, the worst team, pick Walton in the draft. With all A.B.A. team owners agreeing that Walton would enhance their struggling league, Memphis would then trade him to San Diego in return for a large cash payment financed by all the clubs. Considering that the Tarns are owned by feisty Charles O. Finley of Oakland A's fame, it is not impossible that he would choose to move the entire franchise to Los Angeles.
Walton admits there is a certain attraction to turning professional. "It would be a challenge," he says. "Do I have the stamina and ability? Can I stand the punishment? These questions can't be answered until I try. After all, it's my ticket to do what I want for the rest of my life." Then he grins. "Got to eat too, you know. The way the cost of living is going up, it might take a million to keep me in vegetables."