LOS ANGELES – UCLA honored Dick Enberg on Thursday night, which makes them even.
For 12 seasons Enberg honored UCLA basketball by narrating the exploits of Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton and the rest of John Wooden’s ruthless college basketball tyrants. The games were on KTLA and were televised live on the road, tape delayed at home.
Back then college basketball was only visible in newsprint. It did not exist on national television. The sheer grandiosity of Alcindor made it possible for the home telecasts, and when UCLA won three national championshps with him, two more with Bill Walton, and two in between, the networks finally bought the idea that the NCAA Tournament was worth it.