Head coach Steve Kerr confers with director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.
Paul Chinn/S.F Chronicle/Getty Images
There’s a very good chance you have never heard of Rick Celebrini. Honestly, a better than good chance.
Celebrini is the Golden State Warriors’ vice president of player health and performance, one of the many unseen faces who make the Dubs run behind the scenes. This week, though, he is at the center of one of Golden State’s biggest storylines, because Celebrini basically has the final call as to whether a Warriors player with an injury plays or sits. And this time that injured player is Jimmy Butler — the Warriors’ do-everything deadline addition, who suffered a pelvic and glute muscle contusion when he crashed onto the hardwood floor in Game 2 of the Warriors-Rockets series, after a collision with Rockets’ Amen Thompson.
Article continues below this ad
Butler was ruled out of Game 3 about an hour before tipoff, and — according to the Athletic’s Anthony Slater — Celebrini made the call to keep Butler off the court on Saturday.
“Butler worked out pregame, from what I’ve been told, and I think he wouldn’t have minded playing tonight, but Rick Celebrini [said no],” Slater said on the “Warriors Plus Minus” podcast after Game 3, drawing a laugh from co-hosts Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami upon mentioning Celebrini’s name. “Rick Celebrini runs this show, and there’s a high level of respect for Rick Celebrini.”
Celebrini joined the Warriors in the summer after the 2018 championship, following a lengthy stay with Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps. He initially found the spotlight after Kevin Durant tore his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals, with many questioning whether the Warriors forced Durant to play. (They didn’t, per Durant himself.)
Warriors star Kevin Durant is helped off the court by then-director of sports medicine for the Golden State, Rick Celebrini (far left), during the NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena on Monday, June 10, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag
But within the team, Celebrini has clearly become an integral and trusted figure. While he rarely does interviews, Warriors players have spoken glowingly about him over the years.
Article continues below this ad
“Coach is 1A,” Stephen Curry told The Athletic in a 2023 profile from Slater and Thompson, followed by a chuckle. “(Celebrini) might be 1B.”
Klay Thompson added: “If it wasn’t for Rick Celebrini, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That’s a fact.”
Celebrini most famously helped Thompson return from the second of his two career-changing injuries. But he’s done far more than that, including setting the amount of playing time for players returning from injury — with coach Steve Kerr following his guidance as gospel.
Celebrini, 57, has also managed the litany of ailments that in recent years befell both Curry and Draymond Green, who said Celebrini had “blown his mind” for instantly identifying that some calf pain Green was feeling during the 2022 season was actually stemming from a disc injury in Green’s back. Kevon Looney has credited Celebrini for helping him overcome his habitual injury woes and become the Dubs’ most durable player.
Article continues below this ad
If you have heard of Rick Celebrini in the past year, it’s likely in an entirely different context: as a famous dad. Celebrini is Canadian, and his kids grew up playing hockey. One of his sons, Macklin, became the consensus top prospect before last year’s NHL Draft, and was eventually picked No. 1 overall by the San Jose Sharks. He ended up having a stellar rookie season for the middling Sharks — the 18-year-old led the team with 63 points (25 goals, 38 assists) — and looks like he will be a star for San Jose.
Back when the Sharks won the draft lottery, Rick did the rarest of rare press conferences to discuss watching the lottery, which he didn’t do with the Warriors, or even with his son, who was at the draft lottery himself.
“It wasn’t very exciting, it was just my wife and I at home,” he said. “Our other three kids were all training, doing their thing. And so we were tucked in and just catching it on TV like everyone else.”
Article continues below this ad
