Returning to Indiana from Philly, the Pacers had two days to rest and prepare for the upcoming "Christmas Day Game."
Close to Christmas, the Pacers arranged community service to give back to the fans, with the most popular amongst Indiana fans, Su Wan, and the least favored by the Pacers' "die-hard fans", Artest, becoming representatives of the team.
Upon learning about this, Walsh rushed into the general manager's office,
"You want to see Ron become the focus of public opinion again for hitting a fan?"
From his perspective, the completely untrustworthy Ron shouldn't be appearing in public right now.
Larry Bird, however, remained calm as he put on the Christmas hat that a fan had just given him. He looked at himself in the mirror, decided it didn't look too bad, and planned to take it home to amuse his grandchild. He waited until Walsh's rage had subsided before saying, "Don't worry, with Uncle here, nothing like that will happen."
