The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year as a member of the 1985-86 Celtics that finished 67-15 during the regular season — and 41-1 at home in the Boston Garden — on their way to winning 15-of-18 playoff games and the franchise’s 16th NBA title, Bill Walton can wish you a St. Patrick’s Day far better than I can.

So, without further ado, I give you Walton uncensored, about five or six Guinesses deep most likely (from his appearance on the Big Show a year ago):

Bill Walton's thirst for life is no secret. Neither is his thirst for Guiness. (AP)

“Go Green. Go Guinness. I’m popping one right now. Ten million pints poured every day around this great globe of ours — the globe, the most perfect orb, just like the basketball. The basketball by itself does nothing, but when you make it an extension of your mind the way that [Rajon] Rondo does, the way that Danny Ainge did and DJ [Dennis Johnson] and Larry [Bird] and Kevin [McHale] and Chief [Robert Parish] and Jerry [Sichting] and Rick [Carlisle] and Scotty [Wedman] and all the guys did — but when you’re able to make an extension of your mind, of what it is you’re doing in life, whether it’s drinking a Guinness responsibly, whether you’re bouncing that magic basketball for the Celtic Green, you can make a difference, and that’s what we’re calling everybody to do on St. Patrick’s Day, the start of the college tournament, the most perfect harmonic convergence ever. Be bold, stand tall, quit your job and chase your dreams. …

“I only drink Guinness, the holy water falling from the sky, delivering spiritual guidance. We’re blessed. We’re so blessed. We’re on record pace, and we’re having the time of our life. …

“When this morning started, and it started more than 24 hours ago, the call to action was to take the day off. Who wants to lead a watered down life? C’mon. Let’s get up and be bold. Forget just taking the day off, just quit your job. Make your dream your job, and that’s what I was able to do. My parents ask me to this very day, ‘So, Billy, did you ever get a job?’ I’m closer than ever to being able to say yes. It’s so special. The remarkable thing about Guinness in our world is that in the mother country, Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday. In Canada, St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday. Somewhere, we got lost along the path, along the golden road to unlimited devotion. …

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Wake up with the Celtics and your daily dose of Irish Coffee …

The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year as a member of the 1985-86 Celtics that finished 67-15 during the regular season — and 41-1 at home in the Boston Garden — on their way to winning 15-of-18 playoff games and the franchise’s 16th NBA title, Bill Walton can wish you a St. Patrick’s Day far better than I can.

So, without further ado, I give you Walton uncensored, about five or six Guinesses deep most likely (from his appearance on the Big Show):

Bill Walton's thirst for life is no secret. Neither is his thirst for Guiness. (AP)

“Go Green. Go Guinness. I’m popping one right now. Ten million pints poured every day around this great globe of ours — the globe, the most perfect orb, just like the basketball. The basketball by itself does nothing, but when you make it an extension of your mind the way that [Rajon] Rondo does, the way that Danny Ainge did and DJ [Dennis Johnson] and Larry [Bird] and Kevin [McHale] and Chief [Robert Parish] and Jerry [Sichting] and Rick [Carlisle] and Scotty [Wedman] and all the guys did — but when you’re able to make an extension of your mind, of what it is you’re doing in life, whether it’s drinking a Guinness responsibly, whether you’re bouncing that magic basketball for the Celtic Green, you can make a difference, and that’s what we’re calling everybody to do on St. Patrick’s Day, the start of the college tournament, the most perfect harmonic convergence ever. Be bold, stand tall, quit your job and chase your dreams. …

“I only drink Guinness, the holy water falling from the sky, delivering spiritual guidance. We’re blessed. We’re so blessed. We’re on record pace, and we’re having the time of our life. …

“When this morning started, and it started more than 24 hours ago, the call to action was to take the day off. Who wants to lead a watered down life? C’mon. Let’s get up and be bold. Forget just taking the day off, just quit your job. Make your dream your job, and that’s what I was able to do. My parents ask me to this very day, ‘So, Billy, did you ever get a job?’ I’m closer than ever to being able to say yes. It’s so special. The remarkable thing about Guinness in our world is that in the mother country, Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday. In Canada, St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday. Somewhere, we got lost along the path, along the golden road to unlimited devotion. …

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Wake up with the Celtics and your daily dose of Irish Coffee …

Five days after being traded from the Celtics, Kendrick Perkins and the Thunder brass have already agreed to terms on a contract extenion. Wait a second … WHAT?!?!

If you’ll recall, Perkins turned down a four-year, $22 million deal from the Celtics, and after trading the championship-winning center Celtics president Danny Ainge told us Perkins “really wanted to test the market and see what his value was.”

Apparently not. He just wanted a better offer, and the Celtics couldn’t give it to him. Their $22 million offer was the maximum they could allocate to him. They couldn’t have offered him four years and $34.8 million, which is what the Thunder did, according to Yahoo! Sports. A difference of $3.2 million per season is a big deal. Literally.

And it’s exactly why I’m an even bigger advocate of the Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic acquisitions than I already was. Is Perkins an $8.7 million a year player? Heck no.

As for the remaining Celtics, let’s all hope the veterans get over this “Whoa is me, Perk is gone” mentality that’s been fairly evident on and off the court. As CBS Sports columnist Ken Berger pointed out last week, it’s the Big Four’s $57 million worth of contracts next season that limited the Celtics’ offer to $22 million.

If they wanted Perkins for the remainder of this season and beyond, why didn’t Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen offer up a total of $800,000 apiece per year over the next four seasons so Perkins could get his $35 million wish?

Never mind the fact that the Celtics got the best player in the deal (Green) and another guy (Krstic) who gives you comparable numbers to Perkins for a player who was obviously never going to sign in Boston this summer.

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Wake up with the Celtics and your daily dose of Irish Coffee …

It’s time for Kendrick Perkins to start.

Despite Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge‘s claim on WEEI’s Big Show last week that he doesn’t think it matters who starts between Shaquille O’Neal and Perkins, the man who hasn’t lost a playoff series starting alongside Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo has proven within five games that he deserves his spot back.

In Perkins’ first three games since returning from ACL surgery this past offseason, the Celtics were better off with either O’Neal or Semih Erden starting the first and third quarters. The numbers back it up. The C’s outscored their opponents by a total of three points to start each half before Perkins entered the game against the Cavaliers, Blazers and Suns. They were subsequently outscored by a total of 11 points with Perkins on the floor in those three games.

However, in the last two games — victories over the Lakers and Kings — the C’s have outscored their opponents by 22 from the moment Perkins entered the game in the first and third quarters to the time somebody substituted for him. That’s nine points better than they were in those two contests with O’Neal on the floor to start each half.

In his first five games this season, Perkins’ minutes have steadily risen to the mid-20s, culminating in a near double-double against the Kings. His performance Tuesday night marked the first game he vastly outperformed the C’s starting center.

Take a look at Perkins’ progression upon entering each half since his return compared to the Celtics’ starting center that night (each player’s plus/minus statistics are in parentheses):

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Celtics fans received a treat Thursday night when Bill Walton stepped in for Tommy Heinsohn alongside Mike Gorman on the Comcast SportsNet broadcast. Walton remains as goofy, weird and non-sequitur-ish as ever. Only Walton could drop a reference to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birthday into a riff on basketball creativity, especially in a game that featured very little in the way of aesthetically pleasing basketball.

To be sure some people didn’t like Walton, whose crimes against broadcasting included: talking too much, saying weird things that made no sense, making sweeping over-the-top statements that couldn’t possibly hold up under scrutiny, and not being Tommy.

To those people we say: Lighten up. It’s Bill Walton! You were expecting something different?

The one thing that shown through the broadcast is that he loves the game and loves being around it. In April of last year, Walton told the San Diego Tribune that he had contemplated suicide because of the back pain that had nearly completely incapacitated him. Walton has been working a handful of Sacramento Kings broadcasts this year and is obviously thrilled to be back around the NBA.

If you missed him Thursday, Walton will also join Gorman for Friday night’s game in Phoenix and be on the Comcast set for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles.

This is just a small sampling of Walton’s witticism and odd one-liners, pulled from Twitter and my own notes. Some need more of a set-up than others. Please add others in the comments:

On oft-injured Portland center Greg Oden:

He should move to Hawaii, lose a ton of weight and start all over… become a yoga master

On former Pistons Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and Dennis Rodman:

They just made those decisions. That they were going to break all the rules of human decency.

After Doc Rivers argued a call:

Doc Rivers making sizable contributions to our website, ilovetherefs.org

On Ray Allen’s shooting form:

Flawless … like Yosemite Falls coming right through the rim

After pleading for Kevin Garnett to come back in the game, Walton seemed almost sad that Semih Erden was checking in instead.

Semih’s not as good as KG

After the camera caught Garnett in the middle of his pregame ritual where he bangs his head against the basket stanchion:

Kevin Garnett, working on his repetitive head injuries

On Portland center Joel Pryzbilla:

Pryzbilla does what he does best… violate the rules.