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Bill Walton, perhaps the biggest ‘Deadhead’ of them all, once took the 1985 Celtics to see the Grateful Dead

Related Topics: Bill Walton, Mickey Hart

The Grateful Dead can be an acquired taste. Not everyone appreciates the winding jams, intricate collaboration, and 20-minute songs.

That was never the case for Bill Walton.

A self-proclaimed “Deadhead” since he first saw the band in its infancy back in 1967, Walton, who died Monday, might have been the band’s most famous fan.

One evening in 1985, he turned his Celtics teammates into fans, too.

The Dead were playing the Centrum in Worcester on Nov. 4 and 5 that season, and the Celtics were off those nights after starting the season 4-1.