On this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL), “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che was visited by NBA Hall of Famer/analyst/unabashed Deadhead Bill Walton as portrayed by James Austin Johnson.
In the segment, Che really just wants to know whether Walton thinks LeBron James and the struggling Los Angeles Lakers are going to make the playoffs, but the wide-eyed, tie-dye-clad, perpetually stoked guest has headier topics on his mind. When the host notes that Bill is a little weird, Johnson’s Walton begins to make proclamations about his many roles in the Universe: “Michael, I am an athlete, I am an analyst, I am a spiritual nomad, I am a curious nymph in God’s astonishing garden.”
Faux Chill Walton continues to push the segment further off the rails even as he actually begins talking about the Lakers, cutting in play-by-play analysis for a basketball game happening in the future. “Are you calling a game right now?” Che asks. “I’m not calling it right now,” Walton responds, “My spirit guide, a headless Babylonian priestess, sends me flashes of what is, what was, and what shall be, so I’m calling a game that takes place next Wednesday. Oh! D-lo with the layup, and the lead is cut to six.”
When pressed again about the Lakers’ fate this season, Walton continues, “What we now call paradise started as a [inaudible] boneyard, but its spirit has carried on—just like the Grateful Dead carried on when they brought in the ‘Noodler of Nations,’ John Mayer, a poet whose only colleagues are the planets themselves! Big dunk from LeBron! Throw it down!”
Related: Watch Bill Walton Join Dead & Company For “Drums” During 2016 Summer Finale
The segment was likely inspired in part by a recent appearance by the “Noodler of Nations” himself on the real-life Bill Walton’s Throw It Down podcast. During the podcast appearance, Mayer spoke about Bill’s unfettered encouragement before Dead & Company shows. “Some of the greatest compliments I’ve ever been given were from Bill Walton,” the guitarist said.
Watch James Austin Johnson transform into Bill Walton for “Weekend Update” on Saturday’s episode of SNL below.
Bill Walton (James Austin Johnson) Visits SNL‘s “Weekend Update” – 2/25/23