Doc Rivers remembered late Celtics VP Heather Walker with touching tribute
"She was just terrific."
At the end of his pregame press conference, ex-Celtics coach Doc Rivers took a few minutes to remember Heather Walker, the late Celtics executive who died last week after a battle with glioblastoma.
Rivers, who coached the Celtics to an NBA title in 2008, fought back tears as he spoke of Walker, who joined the Celtics as PR Director in 2006 before she was later named VP of communications.
“Heather meant a lot to me … I didn’t know what to make of her when she first came,” Rivers said. “She was so strong. Early on we bumped heads. I was like, ‘This is how we do this’ because I was the old school thought (process) and she was bringing the new way. She was right, I hate to say it. She was just terrific. I got a chance to text back and forth with her about three weeks ago.”
The emotions seemed to hit Rivers even harder as he remembered the text exchange.
“I try to tell our guys a lot that we live in a real-world sometimes,” Rivers said. “We really do. But you still have to do your job, you still have to do things. I didn’t mean to get emotional, this wasn’t planned. But there are just so many people that you have a chance to touch, and those people touch you. It’s just so sad when you lose one so young and so gifted. And really, like a lot of people, you don’t get a chance to say thank you.”
The Celtics left a seat open for Walker in the media section of TD Garden as a tribute. They also wore shooting shirts with Walker’s initials ahead of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the 76ers.
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