When HoFer John Wooden gave newly crowned Player of the Year Bill Walton a 15-minute ultimatum 

Former UCLA Bruins star and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton died last year as one of the most decorated players in the history of the game. Walton made his name as a prospect under the legendary coach John Wooden, who dominated the college basketball scene in the 1960s and early 1970s with his all-conquering Bruins team.

During a 2010 segment of the "805Bruin" podcast, Walton revealed a hilarious interaction between himself and coach Wooden, who did not allow his players to have hair longer than two inches. That rule posed a problem for Walton because he had grown out his hair during the offseason.

"I couldn't wait for practice to start and coach Wooden comes in for inspection," Walton said. "He says, 'What is this? It's unacceptable. You can't practice today Billy.' I say, 'Come on, coach, what is going on here?'"

Walton was coming off of a Player of the Year trophy, so he thought he could get away with a little bit of hairstyling. But he was wrong.

Wooden revealed in the documentary that he had given Walton an ultimatum to cut his long hair short within 15 minutes.

"They had to get a cut, that's all there is to it," Wooden said. "He (Walton) told me after he's the National Player of the Year, national champion undefeated and I didn't have the right to tell him to wear his hair a little bit shorter and couldn't wear facial hair."

"And I said, 'You're correct Bill. I don't have that right. I just have the right to determine who's not playing and we're gonna miss you. In about 15 minutes, we're not gonna have you unless you go upstairs and get that taken care of.' He stood and looked at me and I said, '14 minutes.'"

Bill Walton now realized that the ultimatum from the Hall of Famer coach was actually a serious one. So he rushed to the nearest barber to get his hair shaved.

"I'm out of the door and I ride as hard and as fast as I can and I raced down to Westwood and jumped in the barber chair and said, 'Just cut it all off,'" Walton added.

That kind of discipline is what prompted Wooden to have such a successful team. The captain certainly ran a tight ship.

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Bill Walton had an outstanding career

Bill Walton had an outstanding college basketball career while playing for the UCLA Bruins under coach John Wooden. He won three consecutive National Player of the Year awards (1972-1974) backed up by two consecutive national championships, which heralded the end of Wooden's stunning dynasty that included 88 consecutive wins.

Walton was the Most Outstanding Player in the Bruins' two national championship wins, after which he was selected No. 1 overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. Walton won the NBA MVP and lead the franchise to their sole title in 1977.

Bill Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, while John Wooden was inducted into the former as both a player and a coach, becoming the first person to achieve that feat. Together, Walton and Wooden helped to build the winningest team that college basketball ever saw.