With 3:03 remaining in the game against the Spurs, Boston’s TD Garden stood to applaud a substitution. Rookie Jordan Walsh made his NBA debut entering the field for Neemias Queta. Although the scoreboard reflected a clear 114-94 for the Celtics, many of the local fans no longer sat down. They lived the outcome with the hope that the ‘rookie’ would score. She couldn’t do it. He missed the only shot he made, a triple, and, displaying the intensity that characterizes him, he grabbed four rebounds that were cheered like each of the actions in which he touched the ball. A new idol was born in Boston.
“It was incredible. I feel like it’s a great career achievement for everyone who wants to play in the NBA. “It was my night and I’m happy to have reached that milestone.”, he told the press after the match against the Spurs. “I can see his growth from the beginning of the year until now with his defensive communication, his rebounding. He’s starting to see how important he is,” he said. coach Joe Mazzulla, who highlighted the reception from the fans: “That they gave him support like that says a lot about them. It was really great”.
Walsh, born in Dallas 19 years ago, played at the University of Arkansas, where he already showed a powerful physique despite his 1.98 meters and earned a reputation as a great defender. After a season in which he averaged 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals, he decided to enter last year’s draft. He was chosen in the second round, specifically in 38th place, and ended up with the Celtics, who signed him a contract for four seasons.. He has played 16 games for Maine, the affiliated team in the GLeague, with averages of 16.3 points and 7.9 reboundsuntil he has finally fulfilled his ambition of making his debut in the NBA.
Marked by baldness
The Celtics player’s life has been marked by his physical appearance. Suffer alopecia universala condition that affects 2% of the population, who also suffer from, for example, former soccer referee Pierluigi Collina and that causes the loss of all body hair. It can be experienced at any age and Walsh was involved in adolescence, one of the most complicated. It was common for rivals and fans to make fun of him for his baldness..
Neither the player nor his family knew how to deal with a problem that went beyond the physical and affected Walsh psychologically.. Then she saw Charlie Villanueva, an NBA player who suffered from the same condition and became his idol. Even more so when he got to know him through a relative that he had contact with. Ramon Sessions, with whom he played on the Bucks.
For Walsh, having that reference “He was a great help, more than anything off the court. He understood what he was going through and could tell him everything because he had gone through the same thing.”. She always had good advice.” Among them, as Villanueva says, she recommended him “May you have alopecia, but may alopecia not have you.”. You must have control of this disease, regardless of whether the hair grows back or not. “Keep a positive attitude and use it as motivation to get where you want.”
And that is what the new debutant has done with the Celtics. “I am in control of my life and I do not allow alopecia to affect me on a daily basis”says Walsh, who in basketball just tries to “work as hard as I can.” Thus he has achieved his dream of debut in the NBA while he is the one who now helps children who suffer from alopecia universalis: “I tell them that they should be themselves at all times and always love themselves.”
2024-01-18 11:22:09
#Celtics #idol #rookie #alopecia #universalis
