BOSTON -- As the Boston Celtics’ practice closed on Wednesday, one particularly notable interaction drew the attention of every reporter in the gym: Former University of Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun chatted at length with Kemba Walker, the point guard who helped him win his third and final NCAA title in 2011.

Shortly afterward, Calhoun took a few minutes to chat with a curious collection of reporters. He said Walker doesn’t yet know where Dorchester or Brookline are, but he expects his former point guard to make a big impact on his teammates in Brighton, where the team practices.

“What Kemba does well is lead,” Calhoun said. “Even though he’s only an eight-year veteran, he’s a hungry guy and he wants to win. I know talking to him last season, what’s going to make your mind up? Because it’s your decision. And we’d talk a lot, and he says, ‘Winning.’ I want to win. I’m at that point in my career. God’s been good and I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to win and I think he’s here to win. That’s his whole goal, to win.”

Calhoun seems to have been relatively plugged into Walker’s free-agent decision this summer, although he claimed he didn’t influence it much.

“I think he balanced his factors,” Calhoun said. “He knew about Brad, I knew about Brad -- coached against Brad. He knew who the coach was, knew Danny. He knew what the Celtics represented. ... That was the number one thing he kept mentioning. He mentioned about winning, and when you talk to guys three or four times, you get a dominant theme. His dominant theme was about winning.”

Calhoun and Walker learned a lot about winning together. In his three years at Connecticut, Walker piled up plenty of impressive moments, but none were as impressive as his run through the Big East tournament in his junior year, which was punctuated with a national championship.

Now Walker will look to build similar magic with Stevens and the Celtics, who are hoping to assuage the sting of last year’s disappointments. Calhoun said he liked what he saw from the Celtics during Wednesday’s practice.

“Today I liked Gordon Hayward making shots,” Calhoun said. "That’s a good deal. A couple of years ago when Gordon was an All-Star before he got to Boston, he’s a great player, and he really knows how to play. From a coaching standpoint you’d like to have a guy like that every time. And then Brown and Tatum can really play. And then some of the young kids. I like the feistiness of Carsen from Purdue. I like feisty guys. Kanter will rebound. Overall I’m not making an evaluation, it’s just I’ve always wanted the Celtics to be good. ...

“I’m a Bostonian, still love the Celtics, still want them to do well. I always follow my kids and it’s kind of a nice bonus to have to have a team I grew up with and loved to have one of the best players and people I ever coached, Kemba being here.”