When Jeff Twiss saw the western Massachusetts phone number pop up on his cellphone in February, he was nervous.

The longtime Celtics vice president knew the team had loaned their 1981 Larry O’Brien Championship trophy to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to be part of the museum’s Celtics Vault exhibit.

In the split second before answering, he wondered:

“Had something happened to the trophy?”

When he answered, Hall of Fame President John Doleva’s question only stoked his concern.

“Jeff, are you sitting down?” Doleva asked and then gave him the news.

“My first thought was ‘Oh no! Something did happen to the trophy. Now we’re in trouble,” Twiss said.

Not only was the trophy safe and intact, but he had more good news. Twiss was going to be honored as the 2025 John Bun

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