If you wanted to have a few words a Boston Celtic, particularly one group assessed as probably the greatest that ever played, the 1986 champs, you had to go through Jeff Twiss.
Then and now.
Twiss was involved Celtics media relations for nearly four decades before moving to VP of Media Services, dealing with alumni.
There have dozens of players that have come and gone, few made their presence felt like Bill Walton did.
Technically speaking, Walton, who passed away from cancer at age 71 earlier today, spent two seasons with the Celtics.
But since retiring as a Celtics 37 years ago, he’s always been and probably always will be considered a Celtic.
“Every single conversation of I’ve had with Bill … and I’m talking every single one, he’s always say ‘The 1986 Celtics are the greatest team ever,’” noted Twiss. “And every time he was about to end the call it was, ‘Go Celtics, go!’ He really was a Celtic through and through.”
Walton was acquired by Red Auerbach in a semi-controversial trade before the start of the 1985-86 season, dealing away the popular Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell for Walton.
“From the beginning, he was all-in, accepting a secondary role with guys like Larry [Bird], Robert [Parish] and Kevin [McHale] here,” said Twiss. “He wanted to win. He wanted to be part of the Celtics mystique. He was a pleasure to work with.”
Walton rarely turned down the many media requests he got during that incredible season in which the Celtics won 67 regular season games and, amazingly, lost only three playoff games.
“There were times he’d say, ‘I have to get some therapy, but I’ll meet with [someone] after I’m finished,” said Twiss. “He was amazing. The same guy you see in interviews is the same guy he was off the court.”
Twiss said the most amazing aspect of Walton’s run here, really his first year, was the fact that he played in 80 of the Celtics 82 games, 13 more than the most he had played in any season.
“He really was a blessing coming to us in 1986,” said Twiss. “The stars aligned. The fact he played in [almost] every game is still amazing to me. He wasn’t a 6-foot-1 guard. This is a 7-foot guy, with bad wheels and several surgeries. But he was there every night for us.”
Twiss last saw Walton during the NBA Finals in 2022 and last chatted with him via phone in April as the team was putting together a tribute for long-time play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman, who retired on May 2.
Twiss said every once in a while his cell phone would start buzzing and he’d see the name “Bill Walton.” Twiss would immediately try to end a task he was working on.
The conversations could go anywhere considering Walton’s affinity for politics, music and Celtics baskeball.
“When I’d see his name on my phone I knew it would be at least 15 minutes of conversation,” said Twiss. “He could talk with the best of them. But he always made it a point to ask how I was doing, my family, etc. He really was a special guy.”
And that last conversation ended so many others.
“Go Celtics, go!” he said to Twiss. “I’ll never forget him.”
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.