INDIANAPOLIS — Basketball-reference.com tells us that exactly 515 men have played at least one game for the Boston Celtics.
For many, and perhaps most, among that fortunate 515, wearing the green and white was a high point of their lives, a treasured time and opportunity.
Some may have cherished being a Celtic as much as Bill Walton did.
No one could have cherished it more.
The stunning news Monday that Walton had died of cancer at age 71 brought a visceral, aching reaction from basketball lovers across generations.
Older fans might best remember Walton, perhaps the greatest college player of all time, from his days as the fulcrum of the later phase of the UCLA dynasty.