You know that most NBA players are doing their own thing in the offseason. They are living the life they worked so hard to achieve. Nobody can blame them for that. Sometimes, however, you find a guy like Leon Powe who works really hard at giving back to the community he was raised in or going the extra mile for those less fortunate.
I get the press releases from the Celtics PR team and I have to admit, usually I just gloss over the community service ones. They don't really interest me from a basketball standpoint and sometimes I dismiss them as transparent attempts by the team to raise their image in the community (which is fine by me, by the way). With that said, I find myself feeling sad that the media (and bloggers like me) often pay so much attention to DUI's and gun charges but pay little to no attention to athlete's giving back.
So the more of these press releases I've gotten, the more I keep seeing the same name pop up. Bill Walker is everywhere. Now I know that he's in Boston for the 2nd straight summer working on his game, so he's just around for the team to call. But you have to admire the fact that he seems to always be ready and willing to help out.
Back in June Bill Walker and Brian Scalabrine took a bus load of kids around DC. In addition...
- Jul 16: Boston Celtics forward Bill Walker to Visit Reebok Youth Basketball Camp at BasketBall City
- Aug 4: Bill Walker will purchase food for 400 local families and will distribute meals with Feed The Children at Mildred Avenue School and Community Center
- Aug 6: Celtics forward Bill Walker headlines panel discussion on Positive Alternatives to Substance Abuse; Fans who sign up for a Boston Celtics License Plate can attend this all-star panel event
I don't know Bill Walker at all. I don't know what kind of guy he is or if he's going to keep this up over his career. But you know what? This is a pretty nice start for him off the court.