Knight organized a national campaign to create the Landon Turner Trust Fund that helped raise $400,000 to pay for Turner's medical bills. Thomas staged an all-star basketball game in 1981 that helped raise an additional $90,000. The Boston Celtics honoured Turner by selecting him as the 225th and final selection of the 1982 NBA draft at the suggestion of Knight, who had mentioned it in a conversation with Celtics general manager Red Auerbach and head coach Bill Fitch at an NBA instructional camp a month prior. Knight considered the gesture "a beautiful thing" by the Celtics and subsequently called Auerbach "one of the class people in sports." After finding out he had been drafted, Turner jocularly sent a telegram to Auerbach that read: "When do I report for tryout?" Auerbach stayed in contact with Turner and sent him two championship watches when the Celtics won the NBA Finals in 1984 and 1986.