Rick Carlisle on how Bill Walton got him backstage at a Grateful Dead concert for a date

That date he took is now his wife, one of many such moments Bill changed other people’s lives.

Hall of Fame Boston Celtics center Bill Walton was a force of nature in life, and his recent passing has brought back many moments from the Celtics champ’s charmed life on and off the court — rest in peace.

Most Boston fans are familiar with the lore around him bringing his 1986 Celtics title squad teammates to see the Grateful Dead (excepting Danny Ainge, who was boring), and evidently the music caught on with a few teammates in particular. One of them was Rick Carlisle, today’s head coach of the Indiana Pacers, who shared how that love for the Dead had Walton help get him backstage for a show on his first date with his now-wife.

It’s a touching anecdote that there are countless of in the wake of a truly great man’s life; check it out for yourself in this clip put together by our friends over at CLNS Media.

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