William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American retired basketball player and television sportscaster. Walton became known playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early 1970s, winning three successive College Player of the Year Awards, while leading the Bruins to two Division I national titles. He then went on to have a prominent career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he was a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won two NBA championships.
On leaving college, Walton was drafted by the San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association and also taken as the number one overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1974 NBA draft and was hailed as the savior of the Portland franchise. He signed with the Trail Blazers but his first two seasons were marred by injury (at different times he broke his nose, foot, wrist and leg) and the Blazers missed the playoffs both years. It was not until the 1976-77 season that he was healthy enough to play 65 games and, spurred by new head coach Jack Ramsay, the Trail Blazers became the Cinderella team of the NBA. Walton led the NBA in both rebounds per game and blocked shots per game that season, and he was selected to the NBA All-Star Game, but did not participate due to an injury. Walton was named to the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Second Team for his regular season accomplishments. In the postseason, Walton led Portland to a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals (arguably holding his own against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the series) and went on to help the Trail Blazers to the NBA title over the favored Philadelphia 76ers despite losing the first two games of the series. Walton was named the Finals MVP. The following year, the Blazers won 50 of their first 60 games before Walton suffered a broken foot in what turned out to be the first in a string of foot and ankle injuries that cut short his career. He nonetheless won the league MVP that season (1978) and the Sporting News NBA MVP, as well. He played in his only All-Star Game in 1978 and was named to both the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA First Team. Walton returned to action for the playoffs, but was reinjured in the second game of a series against the Seattle SuperSonics. Without Walton to lead them, Portland lost the series to Seattle in six games. As it turned out, Walton would never play for the Trail Blazers again. During the offseason, Walton demanded to be traded, citing unethical and incompetent treatment of his and other players' injuries by the Blazers' front office. He did not get his wish and sat out the 1978-79 season in protest, signing with the San Diego Clippers when he became a free agent in 1979.

Q: What is the Portland Trail Blazers
A: the Trail Blazers became the Cinderella team of the NBA.

Q: When did he join the Portland Trailblazers ?
A: 1974 NBA draft
Against whom did he play while with the Trailblazers?
new head coach Jack Ramsay, Trail Blazers to the NBA title over the favored Philadelphia 76ers Walton led Portland to a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals Walton returned to action for the playoffs, but was reinjured in the second game of a series against the Seattle SuperSonics.
Walton returned to action for the playoffs, but was reinjured in the second game of a series against the Seattle SuperSonics.