Bill Walton was honored at the Rady Childrens Invitational in a free-spirited way that seemed most appropriate for the local legend.
Jared Emerson, a speed artist from Greenville, S.C., came out to midcourt during halftime of the Purdue-North Carolina State game and finger-painted a 4-foot-by-5-foot picture of Walton.
Emerson began with a blank black canvas. Eight minutes later, he was done. It was difficult to make out the image until Emerson gave it a half-turn. Did we mentioned he painted it upside down?
The artwork is part of a silent auction that is being conducted at Radychildrensinvitational.com. Proceeds benefit Rady Children’s Hospital.
Walton, who died in May, was many things: La Mesan, Helix Highlander, UCLA Bruin, NBA Hall of Famer, broadcaster. cyclist, Deadhead and philanthropist, among them.
His life and legacy were briefly highlighted by public-address announcer Bruce Binkowski after Emerson completed the piece.
“I knew a little bit about Bill,” Emerson said. “I never met him personally, but hes good friends with my buddy George Hincapie and Christian Vande Velde. They’re Tour de France cyclists. He would go cycling with them, and I heard a lot of wonderful stories about him.
“I spoke to (Bills) wife Lori and told her I was going to be doing this today in San Diego. I said, ‘What would be his favorite Grateful Dead song?’ She said, ‘He always said, Whatever the next song was his favorite.’ …
“We just wanted to pay tribute to Bill Walton and the legacy he left behind and the legend he was.”
Some Grateful Dead instrumental music played while Emerson worked.
“I love doing sporting events because I’ve learned a lot from athletes,” Emerson said. “I see their work ethic away from the basketball court, away from the football field and I put that into my craft. …
I’m a realist style, so I can paint anything. Hyper realistic. Realistic. Abstract. I can mimic any style.”
Emerson said he has been speeding painting for the past 18 years. He enjoys the pressure to perform in front of a crowd.
“Theres nothing like that rush in that moment,” Emerson said. “It needs to look like him in that 7-8-minute time frame.”
Hopefully, he wasn’t paid by the hour.
“No, by the minute,” Emerson said. “I always joke that I make more money per minute than most people do. The problem is I don’t make it every minute.”
Watching him at work makes one wonder how fast Emerson could paint a house.
“I would hire a crew to paint a house, and then pay them to do the work,” Emerson laughed. “A lot of my friends say, ‘Will you paint my house?’ I tell them I don’t paint houses.”
But if you did …
“A house?” Emerson said. “I’d probably go slow.”