There’s a level of permanence that a player reaches when they win a championship in Boston.
Just ask Leon Powe and Eddie House, who are still around the organization after pitching in for a title 16 years ago. Ask Cedric Maxwell. Ask Brian Scalabrine, whose status as a human victory cigar (and obvious obsession with NBA basketball) have made him the TV broadcast replacement for the late Tommy Heinsohn … another all-time Celtics great.
Once you win a title in Boston, you are permanent. That’s no disrespect to the likes of Malcolm Brogdon or Kelly Olynyk or Jared Sullinger (or certainly Isaiah Thomas or Marcus Smart, although they might be grandfathered into permanence, depending on who you ask), but the city craves championships, and players who provide them are woven into Boston’s rich sports fabric in a way that Antoine Walker won’t ever be.