Fans in tears as Celtics pay tribute to beloved executive who died of cancer

BOSTON —

The Boston Celtics have revealed a special tribute to a beloved executive who died of cancer earlier this year.

On Monday, the Celtics unveiled the Heather Walker Media Center at the Auerbach Center, the team’s practice facility in Brighton.

Heather Walker, 52, was a senior vice president with the Celtics, specifically the team’s vice president of public relations.

In July 2021, Walker was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.

Walker started the “Move 4 Heather” fundraising campaign shortly after her diagnosis, and so far, it has raised more than $700,000 for glioblastoma research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown said Walker was one of the first people he met after the team drafted him No. 3 overall in 2016, and that she became a close and trusted friend of his.

“She was just there with me every step of the way. All of the schools that I visited, community centers, all the work that I was doing early in my career off the court, Heather was there for pretty much everything,” Brown said.

Walker died April 26 and is survived by her husband, Stephen; children, Samantha and Taylor; mother, Barbara Michalowski; and brothers, Roger and Ryan.