ROXBURY — It was a dominant display of Pop-a-Shot excellence by Jordan Walsh. Challenger after challenger, he sent everyone packing. A line quickly formed, each person itching for their chance to take down the Boston Celtics forward.
That was the scene at the Yawkey Club of Roxbury on Tuesday night.
Walsh and members of the CommUNITY Crew, presented by TD, teamed up to unveil a newly renovated social recreation room for the space, which is run by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.
As noted by the Celtics, “the room will serve as a flexible learning environment that can support financial education, workforce readiness, and family engagement to their members and the community.”
Walsh’s Pop-a-Shot dominance was the first chance at engagement the community got. Though the Celtics youngster wasn’t eager to put his competitiveness to the side.
“When I get to whoop them in the video games,” Walsh said when asked about his favorite part of Celtics community events. “Because, yeah, I’m super competitive. And like Kash [Cannon] be wanting me to let people win so they can get prizes, and it’s like, I’m not the [type of] person to let somebody win, so I’ll be trying to compete at everything.
“But that’s definitely the most fun. Like everybody trying to get a piece of it, and trying to try to interact with me, to try to beat me, is definitely the funnest part.”
Cannon, the Celtics’ Director of Community Engagement, watched on as Walsh refused to let any of the kids win. That was until he finally began shooting on the wrong basket of the machine.
His Pop-a-Shot reign ended on his own terms.
As did his one-on-one mini-pool showdown against a particularly competitive member of the Yawkey Club, because in the end, Walsh sank the eight ball, much to the thrill of his competitor.
“Yeah, I sold a game,” Walsh said in disappointment. “I gave it up, bro. I gave it up.”
But billiards loss aside, the night was a perfect example of Celtics pride. For Walsh, it was more than a chance to help a community reveal a new room filled to the brim with computers, video game systems, new-tech toys, and games.
It was an opportunity to give kids the type of night they’ll remember for a long time.
“I think it’s cool,” Walsh said. “I didn’t have it. So, I feel like I can give back and give an experience that I didn’t have, that I thought could have helped. I think that’s key to moving things forward.”
Because the chance to meet an NBA player is one that a lot of kids dream of.
“I mean, it’s still kind of crazy,” Walsh said. “It’s weird because we’re all kind of the same people, but because I play in the NBA, they’re more excited about it, which is cool, obviously. But it’s still always weird to me.
“I was doing the same stuff y’all were, but now I’m older, and I’m playing, so the perspective is different. But it’s still definitely a cool thing, to always walk into a room and it be like that.”
This is Walsh’s third season in the NBA. In his rookie year, he won a championship. Last year, Boston got bounced in the second round, but Walsh’s on-court opportunities increased.
Now, in his third year, Walsh is playing more than ever. Despite injuries and offseason losses, Boston has maintained its place as one of the top teams in the East, and Walsh has been a major contributor.
And the same ideals the organization has instilled in him on the court are the ones that carried over into the Yawkey Club on Tuesday night.
“Boston’s a city that really loves their sports,” Walsh said. “Really loves to compete and to win, of course. And so, it’s the same values that I kind of try to carry with me, whether it’s playing Pop-a-Shot with kids, or guarding the best player on defense.”
As Walsh left the club, a Pop-a-Shot champion but billiards runner-up, he took a group photo and signed the wall.
The signature serves as a reminder of a night that the people in that room will always get to look back on. A reminder of not only what it means to be a Celtic, but what it means to be a Bostonian.
“I feel like being a Celtic, being somebody who contributes to winning, is something that, not just goes with you, but it’s something that means more,” Walsh said.
