Walton hopes to join exclusive father-son club

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It was one Hall of Famer reaching out to another. But, in reality, they're simply two proud papas.When the Los Angeles Lakers were about to begin the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, Rick Barry returned a phone message left by Bill Walton."I left a message saying, 'Maybe we'll have another father-son combination winning an NBA title (as players),'" Barry said."It's an exclusive club."It's one with a mere two sets of members.In 1947, Matt Guokas Sr. was a sparingly used rookie reserve on the Philadelphia Warriors, the NBA's first recognized champion. Twenty years later, his son Matt Guokas Jr. was a rookie on the Philadelphia 76ers and won a ring himself.In 1975, Rick Barry starred for Golden State's title team. Thirty years later, his son, Brent Barry, won a ring with San Antonio, and he was fitted for a second one last year.Now, we get to the Waltons. Bill won crowns with Portland in 1977 and Boston in 1986. His son, forward Luke Walton, is trying to get one with the Lakers.When asked about the possibility of joining this rare club, Luke paused Wednesday and bent down to knock on the Staples Center court."It would be awesome," he said. "It would be a lot easier to have dinner with (his father). He already talks trash about how he's got (two) NCAA championships (at UCLA) and I don't have any (at Arizona)."As a youngster, Luke, who was 6 when Boston won in 1986, used to try on Bill's championship rings when he visited his grandparents. Bill had given both rings to his father, who died in 2004, and now his mother has them.Luke already has had one chance to get a NBA ring, but the Lakers lost 4-1 to Detroit in 2004 when he was a rookie. But the quest this time is a bit different.The Lakers, you see, are playing his father's beloved Celtics. Bill Walton, whose idol was Bill Russell, grew up a Celtics fan and finished his career with them from 1985 to 1987."It was all Celtics all the time," Luke said of growing up a Boston fan. "I was No. 33 (Larry Bird) when I played in my rec league and in the backyard. I used to imagine myself playing on the court with Larry and those guys. I was a die-hard Celtics fan."Bill, an ESPN analyst, is rooting for his son to win. But he sure wouldn't mind if the Lakers were playing a team other than Boston."It makes it tougher, there's no question about it," he said. "I'm a Celtic and I've been a Celtic my whole life. . . . But it would be indescribable if he won. The emotion and pride of a father is maybe the most powerful emotion on Earth."Way back in 1946-47, it got little attention when the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Chicago Stags 4-1.Guokas Sr. averaged 1.7 points in his only NBA season. Shortly after winning the title, he was in a horrific automobile accident, and his left leg had to be amputated."It was a tragedy and, obviously, changed his life," Guokas Jr. said of his father, who died in 1993 at 78. "But he went on to become a play-by-play announcer for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1949-50 for six years and then he did college basketball. And he was the Philadelphia Eagles' public-address announcer from 1952-90."He got a ring for (the title). It's not real fancy, but he would always wear it. . . . He always put it on the top of his dresser and I would look at it and put it on my hand."Guokas Jr. said his dad was quite proud when he got his own ring while averaging three points for the 76ers in 1966-67, his first of 10 NBA seasons. He later got another as a 76ers assistant in 1982-83 before becoming a coach with Philadelphia and Orlando."It's amazing that, as long as the NBA has been around, only two sets of fathers and sons have both won titles," said Guokas Jr., now a television broadcaster for the Magic. "But I'd love to see the Waltons join us."Guokas Jr. said he didn't realize until the 1990s he and his father were the answer to a trivia question. But, as far as Rick Barry is concerned, he and Brent are the real answer."It wasn't the NBA then," Rick Barry said of Guokas Sr. winning in the Basketball Association of America, which was absorbed into what became the NBA in 1949-50. "So we're the only ones to do it in the modern era."Guokas Jr. said Rick Barry is "technically correct," but points out the NBA recognizes his dad's team as the first title winner. Nevertheless, Rick, a Colorado Springs resident, also is rooting for the Waltons to join the club."It was nice to be there with him and to be able to experience it with him," Rick said of being in San Antonio in 2005 when the Spurs beat Detroit in Game 7 to give Brent his first NBA crown. "It's a nice little sidebar in NBA history."(Chris Tomasson writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.