Celtics raise awareness for National Marrow Donor Program

Ed Lacerte spent three a long time because the Celtics’ head athletic coach and bodily therapist.

He devoted his prolonged profession to serving to athletes recuperate from accidents. He’s a three-time winner of the Joe O’Toole NBA Athletic Coach of the Yr award. He was additionally the coach for the U.S. Males’s Basketball Workforce throughout their gold-medal run within the 1992 Olympic video games.

Now, the Celtics are elevating consciousness to assist Lacerte as he battles acute monocytic leukemia.

Lacerte is awaiting a blood stem cell transplant as soon as the most cancers goes into remission, so the Celtics are elevating consciousness for the Nationwide Marrow Donor Program registry.

The group wore Lacerte’s title on the again of their pregame warmup shirts forward of Monday evening’s matchup with the Pistons. In addition they had a number of bulletins on the jumbotron all through the sport directing followers to a cheek swabbing station within TD Backyard the place they may be a part of the registry and study extra about easy methods to assist.

“Each three to 4 minutes, somebody within the U.S. is identified with a blood most cancers,” the Celtics stated in a information launch. “Many sufferers depend on the NMDP Registry as a result of most lack an identical donor inside their household. A easy, free cheek swab permits eligible people to hitch the registry.” 

“As a result of matching is genetically primarily based, rising donor variety is crucial for sufferers from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds. By becoming a member of and committing to donate blood stem cells—most frequently a non-surgical process resembling plasma donation—you could be the lifesaving match a affected person urgently wants.”

The cheek swabbing station may also be obtainable on Dec. 19 and Dec. 22 throughout house video games in opposition to the Warmth and Pacers. Swab kits are additionally obtainable for many who register on-line.

The 2 upcoming video games are the Celtics’ final house video games in 2025. They’ll return to TD Backyard on Jan. 5. to host the Bulls after the New Yr.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports activities Reporter

Khari Thompson covers skilled sports activities for Boston.com. Earlier than becoming a member of the group in 2022, Khari coated school soccer for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.