UCLA Basketball: Bill Walton Claims Iconic "Star Wars" Character Is Based On Him
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Bill Walton is full of surprises. He is unpredictable and a national treasure who basketball fans appreciate.
On Thursday night's ESPN broadcast of Oregon at USC, Walton claimed the iconic Star Wars character Chewbacca was modeled after him, as Chuck Schilken of The Los Angeles Times details.
Dave Pasch: “Is it true that you were in the mix to play Chewbacca?”
Walton: “Chewybacca [that's how he pronounced it] is modeled after me.”
Pasch: “I heard that you were in the running for that, that you were being considered to play the role. I’m being dead serious.”
Walton: “You’re always serious, that’s one of your problems, that you don’t have fun with your life.”
Pasch: “So since you’re not answering the question, I’m just gonna assume it’s true.”
Walton: “What was the question? I auditioned for Chewybacca and they said ‘No but we’re going to model the character after you.’”
Schilken did some more digging and revealed more similarities between Walton and Chewbacca like they are both tall. Walton has a son named Luke and Chewbacca has a friend named Luke.
Unfortunately, the character wasn't modeled after the former UCLA Bruin who won two national titles under head coach John Wooden. The fuzzy Wookie was modeled after George Lucas's Alaskan Malamute, who used to ride shotgun in the car. The two provided other drivers with a similar image as Han Solo and Chewbacca.
