NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton was one of the many dedicated Grateful Dead fans who helped the band celebrate its 50th-anniversary Fare Thee Well performances in 2015. These days, he’s one of the most visible Deadheads around—both in terms of his vocal love for the band and his physical stature in the crowd at Dead & Company shows. Now, the basketball legend and outspoken sports commentator will help his former team, the Portland Trailblazers, celebrate their own 50th anniversary, as he’ll help lead the team and some its fans on a celebratory bike ride which will end with, you guessed it, Grateful Dead music.
Related: Watch Bill Walton Join Dead & Company For “Drums” During 2016 Summer Finale
Walton will help lead the team’s “Bike with Bill and the Trail Blazers” bike ride event in Portland this Sunday, August 25th. Fans hoping to participate are instructed to meet at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum Commons at 2 p.m. They’ll set off from there for a ride to Terry Schrunk Plaza, where Walton and his teammates ended their NBA championship parade in 1977.
The team will share a “special announcement” at the Plaza around 3:30 p.m. before treating attendees and fans with live music from Grateful Dead cover outfit, Garcia Birthday Band.
“I love my bike, I love Oregon, I love The Blazers,” Walton proclaimed in a post filled with Grateful Dead lyrical references shared to his Instagram on Wednesday afternoon. “We’re on our way, are you kind, and will you come with us, 50 years, so far, the celebration of all good things, and the party’s just starting, here we go, the wheel is turning, I’m trying to hold on, it all rolls into one, I’ll see you Sunday in Portland with my bike.”
Always unpredictable, Walton may even feel kind enough to invite his old pals in The Merry Pranksters along for Sunday’s celebratory ride.
[H/T Oregon Live]