WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — Yesterday night after the Golden State Warriors staved off the New Orleans Pelicans, in which Jermaine O’Neal had this performance, per Rusty Simmons from the New Orleans locker room:
Bogut was serving a one-game suspension for his part in Saturday’s altercation with Portland, so the Warriors turned to 18-season pro Jermaine O’Neal, who had season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds.
.
Playing in his first game back from a four-game hiatus because of a right knee and groin injury, O’Neal looked fresh. He had 10 first-half points and then came up big down the stretch for a Warriors’ team that had recently struggled to close games.
.
With the Warriors’ offense grinding to a halt once again, they turned to O’Neal. He made a turnaround jumper over Jrue Holiday, and then Klay Thompson knocked down a corner three-pointer to give the Warriors a 98-93 with 3:09 remaining. But the Pelicans didn’t go away easily.
…O’Neal gave a stirring post-game speech, which our @goldenstatenz (aka Anthony Mitchell described as:
I don't think I've heard more honesty and emotion from a player than before that interview. That's the greatest in NBA History.
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) November 27, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Once again, O’Neal talked about the character and bonding of this team, in comparison the some of the other teams he’s been on in his 18-year NBA career.
Per Marcus Thompson in his post-game recap:
“I keep telling these guys that trials and tribulations will build character for a true championship team,” O’Neal said. “It may not look good all the time, but we keep fighting, we keep fighting. It doesn’t matter who’s on the court in a Warriors uniform, we always feel like we have enough. Hopefully these lessons we’re learning early, all the injuries … is teaching us a lesson. I truly believe at the end of the year, we’re going to be rewarded for these lessons that we’ve learned.”
And on the air with Jim Barnett, O’Neal had this to say…
– @jermaineoneal, of his team: "This team has the love…when you have a group that loves each other with no envy, the sky's the limit"
— Ruby Lopez (@RubyMLopez) November 27, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsBack on 11/20/2013 after practice, Kent Bazemore gave media some details on how the Golden State Warriors stay bonded outside of the court.
We spend a lot of time together,” Bazemore said, “Just stuff outside of basketball, away from basketball, is very healthy because a lot of tension, whether it be in practice, happens amongst us so if you’re not hanging out off the court to remember he’s your buddy, it could cause turmoil in the locker room. It’s very important for us to do things outside of basketball — for anything, (for example) if you’re part of a group, steppin’ outside of your workplace, it’s great for your job.”
“We all got a group chat. It started once the team was made up this summer. Steph spearheaded it, sent a text to everybody saying, ‘Hey, this is our team,’ get to know each other,” Bazemore added, “If we get into a place kind of early like four o’clock in the afternoon, we’ll shoot the group message a text like, ‘Dinner at seven’. A lot of guys will show up and we’ll go out, have a good dinner…If you don’t choose to come, it’s not a big deal, but a lot of people show up.”
O’Neal has been quick to point out that not every team has been this close in his long career. He often points to the championship caliber Indiana Pacers squads, when they were expected to be a contender, yet injuries, coaching changes, and even crazier unpredictable things such as the “Malice In The Palace” brawl that essentially disbanded that era of Pacers, as examples of what can happen.
“Yeah, it’s a blessing that I haven’t experienced that because even last year a lot of guys would talk about how the team used to be,” Bazemore said, “You got a few friends across the league who’ll say, ‘Man, it’s tough and you look down at the other end and y’all got guys jumpin’ up and down.’ I wouldn’t rather be in another place as far as having team chemistry on and off the floor because it was like that for me in college, high school. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always done things with my team on and off the floor.”
“We send each other little funny pictures in the group chat, just to get a little laugh at ten o’clock at night. It’s a good vibe around here,” he continued, “We may be watching a game. (Warriors equipment manager) Eric Housen will send out a (text), the opponent we’re playing is playing on TV that night, so we’ll see it, we’ll talk it out, send a text, ‘Hey did you see this, this, this and this,’ and we’ll have it all figured out before shootaround the next day.”
While per his post-game interviews, O’Neal had been sidelined with a left knee sprain, a right knee strain, a wrist problem, and not to mention a viral infection, it did not stop Jermaine from seeing some things himself.
“If he sees something on the sideline, like we got in yesterday (last Tuesday) for practice and he saw something and he explained it to us in the locker room. He’s just like an extension of Coach (Mark) Jackson. Those two do a very good job of motivating us and keeping us on the straight and narrow.”
But there is one thing O’Neal likes to keep to himself.
When asked if O’Neal had mentioned any pain from the slew of injuries he’s had, Bazemore replied, “I’m not sure. He’s a tough guy. It’s something he doesn’t talk about. He doesn’t like to show signs of weakness, so he’s the same old Jermaine, still talking and being impactful for this team.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
