Impact well appreciated
Olynyk lauded for work here
Kelly Olynyk was thankful and honored, but he really didn’t get it.
The ex-Celtic was last night’s “Hero Among Us” for all his work in the community over his four seasons in Green, but the Heat forward had a difficult time seeing the personal fit.
CELTICS BEAT Steve Bulpett
He talked about looking up from the Celtics huddle during the first timeout in the second quarter of each game at the Garden and being “amazed” at the honorees.
“They literally save people’s lives,” Olynyk said before being the hero among the Heat, scoring a career-high 32 points in a 90-89 takedown of his former employer. “They dive in a frozen lake and rip out two kids who were playing around. I don’t know how what I did stacks up to that. It’s just an honor to be a part of it. You’re almost just starstruck when you see these people and the feats that they’ve accomplished.”
Last night at the first timeout of the second quarter, Olynyk looked up from the edge of the Miami hud- dle and saw the video created by the Celts to show his work. There he was at various events interacting with kids. There he was dressed as Mario, bright red hat, big mustache and all. Olynyk waved and applauded back at the crowd cheering him.
When the Celts were looking for a game to hold Shamrock Foundation Night, the visit by Olynyk shouted back at them.
“We had to,” said Dave Hoffman, the Celtics’ senior director for community engagement. “No other way around it. Whether he was going to be formally recognized or not, Kelly needed to be here for us to celebrate our community work from last year. He had to. He was the biggest contributor over the last four years.”
There have been more than 1,000 people honored in the “Heroes Among Us” program. It’s been 20 years since the club began recognizing “individuals who have made an overwhelming impact on the lives of others,” and it wasn’t until last night that an active player has been the subject of the presentation.
“It’s unprecedented to do a player. It’s unprecedented to do a visiting player,” said Hoffman. “But who better? Who’s made more contributions to our community efforts and our foundation than Kelly Olynyk? So he’s our hero. He’s my hero. Everyone was floored by the idea. It was such a perfect fit. From the second he got here, he’s been involved. And it’s not just going to him and asking him to do something; he’d come in and ask, ‘What do you have for me? What can I do?’ And it’s everything from the run of the mill appearance at a school talking about the importance of education to Make-a-Wish situations to helping organizations raise money.”
Olynyk remains on the board of Shooting Touch, a Boston organization that uses basketball to help atrisk kids.
“They had a meeting in September,” said Hoffman. “Kelly doesn’t even play here anymore, but he came to Boston for the gala and the board meeting, and he was early for the meeting.
“I could tell story after story of Kelly finding the kid in a crowd of a thousand that’s struggling and tastefully going up and giving them a boost.”
Late last June as free agency neared and Olynyk was to be an unrestricted commodity, he went to community events on three successive days. After the third, Hoffman said to him, “I’m not sure if this is going to be the last one, but if it is, you went out with a bang.”
Olynyk put his arm around him. “Whatever happens, I’m going to miss doing this stuff,” he said. Just as he misses Boston. “We landed here,” said Olynyk, “and it just really feels like home, walking through the city, walking through the streets, the familiarity, the people. The character of the city is second to none in the world. I’ve been all over the world playing this game, and this is a real special place. It’s always great to be back.”
Part of it may be that the Canadian import gets to wear his winter clothing here.
“Yeah,” Olynyk said smiling, “I get to break out some sweatshirts and pants. I may wear a toque, eh?”
Last night in the second quarter, Olynyk got to wear the affection of the area he used his time to serve.
“It’s really special,” Olynyk said. “Hopefully I’ve made an impact on this community in some way or another.”
The Garden gathering provided him the answer. Though the Greenhearts could have done without his 32.