![\"Macklin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28245882-scaled-e1771723081646.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSAN FRANCISCO \u2014 As the Golden State Warriors prepared to start Friday morning\u2019s film session, many players and coaches had a more pressing issue on their mind than preparation for Sunday\u2019s game against the Denver Nuggets. The reason? A member of their extended Warriors family, Team Canada men\u2019s hockey star Macklin Celebrini, was in a tight Olympic game in Italy, so the group couldn\u2019t take its eyes away from what was going on about 6,000 miles away from Chase Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had half the team watching the final two minutes of the game,\u201d Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Saturday\u2019s practice. \u201cBecause it was 2-2, and it was 10 o\u2019clock, and we\u2019re supposed to be starting film. Nope, we\u2019re gonna watch to see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reason the Warriors are so engaged, and will be again early Sunday morning when Celebrini and Team Canada take on Team USA for the gold medal, is because many within Golden State\u2019s organization knew him long before he became the first pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a worldwide hockey sensation. That\u2019s because Celebrini\u2019s dad, Rick, is the Warriors\u2019 vice president of player health and performance and has been with the organization since 2018. After staying in Los Angeles for a couple of extra days after a recent road trip to be there for Jimmy Butler\u2019s ACL surgery, Rick flew to Milan to be with the rest of his family and cheer on his son. From a distance, the Warriors are doing what they can to support Macklin and the rest of the Celebrini family.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s engaged,\u201d Kerr said, \u201cespecially the guys who have been here a while, who know Rick so well and Macklin and the family. So, it\u2019s pretty cool to just see it all develop and to see the pride in Rick\u2019s eyes and hear it in his voice \u2014 it\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
That pride extends throughout many within the Warriors\u2019 team. Swingman Moses Moody got to know Macklin several years ago as the pair rehabbed injuries under Rick\u2019s watch and has enjoyed getting to know the family. Moody is impressed with the way the entire family carries itself, noting Macklin\u2019s little brother, RJ, an up-and-coming teenage hockey player, is just as impressive in how he goes about business. He said he\u2019s excited for Macklin and hopeful the game turns out the way the Celebrini\u2019s want.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want Rick to come back in a good mood,\u201d Moody said with a smile.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Macklin Celebrini leads the Olympic men\u2019s hockey tournament with five goals. (Geoff Burke \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Moody and several of his teammates have noted they appreciate the way Macklin conducts himself, which seems to be a family personality trait.<\/p>\n
\u201cMac, he\u2019s got that silent confidence, too,\u201d Moody said. \u201cI don\u2019t know him for real, but being around him, he doesn\u2019t overdo it. You can tell he\u2019s working. He\u2019s precise in conversation. You can just tell when somebody\u2019s a thinker, more than a talker, type of guy. And that\u2019s how he seems, and I like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr acknowledges he doesn\u2019t know hockey particularly well, but what he sees is a steadiness in the young man\u2019s game and an appreciation of the way he conducts himself on the ice. So much so that early signs of what he\u2019s seeing remind him, on some level, of the star player he\u2019s enjoyed coaching for the last 12 seasons: Stephen Curry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I feel is that Macklin has the combination that is so rare of incredible talent and unbelievable leadership,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cMaturity, humanity, he gets it. He gets it at 19. Usually, it takes guys years to be mature enough to understand how to compete, how to conduct yourself, how to treat your teammates. Not to make the Steph comparison, but that\u2019s what it takes to be a superstar. It\u2019s not just the talent \u2014 it\u2019s the intangibles. And Macklin seems to have the intangibles. I couldn\u2019t have told you that five years ago, when he was in here training, or even two years ago. We just knew he was a really good prospect. But it\u2019s impressive to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
What makes Kerr smile even more these days are the cutaway shots to Rick and the rest of the Celebrini family calmly celebrating in the stands every time Macklin does something else for Team Canada. It\u2019s a point of pride that the tenured members of the organization share. Gary Payton II has worn Macklin\u2019s Sharks jersey after games. Draymond Green has popped up at some of Macklin\u2019s games through the years. Now, they see Rick celebrating and share in the happiness with him through the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been so fun when they flash to Rick and the family in the stands,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cTo see the joy on their faces, the pride. And then watching Macklin \u2014 I don\u2019t know a ton about hockey, but it\u2019s pretty obvious that, at 19, he\u2019s one of their most-trusted players and seems to be on the ice an awful lot at the most critical times. Pretty remarkable at that age that he can become that trusted, that good, this quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, with a wry grin on his face, Kerr can\u2019t help but poke at his friend, Rick.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially in the face of such poor parenting growing up,\u201d Kerr continued. \u201cI don\u2019t know how he\u2019s been able to overcome (it). Thank God for Robyn \u2013 that\u2019s what I always say. The mom clearly has done all the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr still remembers seeing Robyn, Rick\u2019s wife and Macklin\u2019s mom, playing in a two-on-two full-court basketball game at the Warriors\u2019 old practice facility in Oakland against a couple of her sons. It\u2019s a moment he cherishes and a reminder of some of the bonds many within the organization share in watching one another\u2019s children grow up through the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter practice there were a lot of two-on-two full-court games with Robyn and Macklin playing against Charlie and Aiden,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cSo, it was mom and three kids involved in a full-court, two-on-two (game). You want to see an athletic family in action \u2014 it was always fun to watch. And Rick would take it all in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerr joked that he might need to TiVo Sunday\u2019s early-morning gold-medal game, which starts at 5 a.m. PT, and watch it before heading to the arena in advance of the Warriors\u2019 game against the Nuggets. But Payton said he would be waking up early to take all the action in live. Like many other Warriors, he is proud of Macklin\u2019s success, and he is eager to see the young man he\u2019s developed a relationship with the last few years live out one of his dreams on the biggest Olympic stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unreal,\u201d Payton said. \u201cThe kid\u2019s unreal. I feel like he\u2019s gonna end up being one of those when it\u2019s all said and done, like Wayne (Gretzky), Sid (Crosby), Alex (Ovechkin), Mac. So it\u2019s exciting to see from the start and see where it goes, and it\u2019s going pretty damn good right now, and I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m rooting for Mac, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 As the Golden State Warriors prepared to start Friday morning\u2019s film session, many players and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[462],"tags":[574,5,54125,4,465,466,2602,168],"class_list":{"0":"post-466830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl-draft","8":"tag-golden-state-warriors","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-mens-olympic-ice-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-nhl-draft","13":"tag-nhl-entry-draft","14":"tag-olympics","15":"tag-san-jose-sharks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116114751529596103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}