BOSTON — Danny Ainge quickly put Kemba Walker to work upon the star point guard’s arrival in Boston.
The Celtics proved to be Walker’s first and only visit this summer, as the 29-year-old committed to the franchise on the opening day of free agency. But before Ainge even had his word from Walker, he tasked the three-time All-Star with helping recruit Boston’s next free agency target.
“We had an opportunity to set up travel arrangements before free agency — the night before free agency — and so Kemba flew to Boston, I picked him up at about 6:15 (p.m. ET) at the Four Seasons Sunday night,” Ainge said Wednesday. “We talked for 10 minutes or so and I turned my phone over to Kemba and said, ‘Here, I need you to call Enes (Kanter) and try to recruit him to come to Boston.’ Kemba, like, hadn’t made a full commitment to us at that time, but hearing him try to recruit Enes was very encouraging.”
The Celtics ultimately landed Kanter, who held his introductory press conference alongside Walker on Wednesday. Ainge hinted the veteran big man likely fielded more lucrative offers elsewhere, but the opportunity to win with a historic franchise was enough to sway Kanter to Boston. The phone call from Walker played a part as well.
“He didn’t call me on his phone, he called me on Danny’s phone,” Kanter said. “So he called me, I answered and it was like a deep voice. I was like, ‘Who is this?’ He’s like, ‘It’s Kemba, man. We want you to be here and we’re really excited about it.’ That made me really excited and feel special. I mean, he’s obviously an All-Star guy, a superstar like him calling me and just saying, ‘We want you to be here,’ that, to me, is very special. I talked to my manager and was like, ‘I think this is the place I want to play for.'”
Who knows, maybe a front-office gig is in the cards for Walker once his playing days are over.
