Celtics, NBA unveil newly renovated court at Boston Boys & Girls Club

Celtics’ Jordan Walsh plays a game with Zayden Thigpen, 9, at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston – Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Club Friday. (Photo by Reba Saldanha/Boston Herald)

Celtics Nation showed out in force to watch their hometown team cruise past the Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and less than 24 hours later, the team turned out for the community.

Celtics players Al Horford, Luke Kornet, Derrick White and Jordan Walsh, alongside several team officials and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, descended upon the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston in Dorchester to give appreciation to city kids.

The special trip to the Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Club Friday afternoon featured the unveiling of a newly renovated basketball court and enhancements to the facility’s teen education center.

Dozens of children also showed the players what they’ve got on the basketball court — participating in dribbling, shooting and one-on-one drills.

“It’s a great honor for us to be here today with you guys, just very excited and grateful to be here, to see this facility,” Celtics center Al Horford told the wide-eyed, energetic students. “I know you guys are going to put in the work.”

Kayla Collins, a graduating senior at Boston Latin Academy, has engaged with the Boys & Girls Club since she was 11. Giving back to the community and rooting on the Celtics are two of her passions, she said.

Collins, a junior staff member for the club, received a grand surprise from Horford during the high-spirited community event.

“For her courage and her commitment to excellence, Kayla, we want to reward you with two tickets … for Game 2 of the Finals on Sunday,” Horford told Collins.

Collins had a hard time containing her excitement, speaking with reporters with a large smile.

“It’s awe inspiring,” she said of the Celtics being out in the community. “To see them give back to their community, it really makes me like being here in Boston and love being a Celtics fan. … It really shows me they’re not just an NBA team, they’re here for the community. That’s the biggest thing.”

Carl Thompson, executive director of the club for 10 years, said the renovation was sorely needed.

The same company that installed the floor in 1995, when the center opened, refinished the court in the project, Thompson said. He added that the company told him this was the first time the floor was stripped down to its bare.

The project also included upgrading the court’s hoops, installing a new scoreboard, and updating graphics and safety equipment.

Roughly 75 students attended the event which Thompson called “mostly a surprise,” but they did have to get a special release to leave school early to mingle with the Celtics and Silver.

“When you have Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, take time out of his schedule to come speak words of encouragement to our young people, that means a lot,” Thompson said. “When you have players — their schedules are hectic, they have their own families, they just played last night — carve out some of the time in their life to basically make a kid’s year, it’s really impactful.”

Dana Barros, a former Celtic who works in community relations for the team, grew up down the road from the Boys & Girls Club. He called the renovated center “unbelievable.”

Seeing the Celtics give back to the community is nothing new to the Barros.

“It’s almost part of the contract — that’s the way it goes down,” he said. “If you want to be a part of us, you have to fall in line with that.”