I had been wondering where Bill Walton had been for the past few weeks or so and thanks to SMW I've got the answer. He's got really bad back problems....

The former center who starred on John Wooden's national championship teams in the early '70s has been laid up for more than a month because of a pinched nerve in his back and an aching hip.

"His back is all jacked up. He's going through a tough time right now," his son Luke Walton said Thursday. "He can't go into the arenas and sit in those chairs. He definitely can't get on a plane. He said that's the most painful thing. He can barely get into a car right now. But he said he's getting better. Slowly getting better."

Walton is following the Bruins' run through the NCAA tournament from his San Diego home. He's been off the air from his ESPN job doing NBA commentary.

"Sadly I am down and out," he wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Go Bruins."