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Boston Globe

How does one earn a roster spot with Boston's Bill Walton All-Stars? Time well spent and a title in short order.

A scattered few were mercenaries of the most helpful variety. Some had been underestimated and discarded elsewhere, arriving here with scars. Others were acquired because they appeared — and proved to be — The Missing Piece. Most appreciated the passion of the Boston sports scene. Many reveled in it. All of them, in this century anyway, in this ridiculous run of 13 major professional championships since 2001, learned their way around a duck boat. When they return to Boston, it is obligatory to call them 'Champ.' Advertisement This topic popped into mind recently for a few reasons. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It's been more than a year now since Bill Walton (left) is just one of many athletes to come through the Hub and play a big role in winning a title. Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff Walton came to mind often over the last several weeks while watching his former teammate Rick Carlisle, who spoke so eloquently about Walton last May upon news of his death, guide the underestimated Pacers to loved the way Carlisle's Pacers played the game. Walton is also connected to the other reason this was on my mind. The Celtics, mere days after their reign as NBA champions officially came to an end with the Thunder's Game 7 victory, began the brutal but necessary business of paring a couple of eight-figure annual salaries from their payroll in order to escape the punitive 'second apron' tax and roster-building penalties. Advertisement Related : It's a shame that Holiday played just two seasons here, because the guy is a born Celtic in all the admirable ways, an amalgam of Dennis Johnson and K.C. Jones, while also answering the question, 'What would it look like if Marcus Smart embraced calm rather than chaos, and also could shoot?' Porzingis was the Walton of this Celtics era. He loved being here, the fans loved him, he had great perspective due to all he has been through, and he gave a champ a superpower when healthy. It's both wild and fitting that Walton played one more game as a Celtic than Porzingis (118-117, playoffs included). Holiday and Porzingis are first-ballot Walton All-Stars, based on our loose parameters of being a short-timer (let's say three seasons in Boston or less) but a major contributor to a champ. There are actually more players that meet the qualifications than you might be able to name without the assistance of one So many, in fact, that we'll keep our acknowledgements today to those who contributed to the aforementioned 13 champions — six Patriots teams, four Red Sox, two Celtics, and one Bruins — since the turn of the century . . . or the arrival of Tom Brady, a far more relevant cultural event. Advertisement Sticking with the Celtics, their other banner-raising team this century had its share of Walton All-Stars. James Posey was the ideal sixth man for the '08 champs, playing lockdown defense, knocking down big 3-pointers, and being an A+ chemistry guy, which included having a different handshake for every teammate. Posey was here just one season, as was big man P.J. Brown. I'll pause while you happily replay his crucial jump shot in Related : How about that other winter team that took up some space of its own in the Garden rafters with the 2010-11 Stanley Cup victory? The Patriots have an abundance of these players. Veterans wanted to come here and board the two-decade dynasty in pursuit of a ring. Darrelle Revis, who proved one man can be an island for the '14 defense, and Chris Long, who won a Super Bowl with the Pats in '16 and then beat them as an Eagle in '17, are textbook examples. Related : The 2004 Patriots — their best Super Bowl winner in my opinion — brought in Corey Dillon, who rambled for a franchise-record 1,635 rushing yards. Advertisement Because 86 years of frustration had been endured before Related : The '13 Red Sox were rejuvenated by veterans who came in and instantly became a team — Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, Ryan Dempster, Stephen Drew . . . There are many more that could have been mentioned by name. But not everyone gets a salute in the first class. Perhaps we'll dig into the pre-2000 Walton All-Star honorees at some point. Chad Finn can be reached at