Buddy Hield’s fried rice is elite — and so was Jimmy Butler at practice 😂

[videos/interviews/transcripts]

Below are the transcripts from Warriors practice on Friday at Chase Center, before they headed out to LA midday Saturday. The press conference was held on the fourth floor of the arena, as there was a Dua Lipa concert that night which can make things pretty hectic downstairs.

Steve Kerr, Buddy Hield and one Wardell Stephen Curry spoke at the podium. Jimmy Butler has been excused from the preseason game against the Lakers and Kerr didn’t want to go into details, per usual, but said it’s an excused personal reason and that’s it’s a positive reason, per Monte Poole of NBCSBA.

Which makes the recounts of Jimmy “dominating” (per Buddy) and “dictating” (per Steph) practice all the more bordering on legendary. I can only speculate at this time, but do you really think it’s coincidence that Butler would control the pace of the practice scrimmage knowing he was gonna be away from the team in the not-too-distant future?

Incidentally Kerr said at practice yesterday, held at USC in the presence of former Golden State head coach Eric Musselman, that the starting lineup will be Brandin Podziemski, Hield, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green, Quinten Post, with Moses Moody out with a left calf issue — reported pregame just now as out for the remainder of preseason, hopeful for Opening Night on October 21st, and to be re-evaluated in a week.

I am still looking forward to Will Richard’s defense and whatever he can provide on offense, in case you didn’t notice:

Even though the intrigue for Kuminga is obvious, especially as witnessed on our nightly livestream less than 24 hours ago:

I was not able to post the Kerr interview, as I was too busy still preparing for the Love Your Dubs Summit, set to stream online starting Wednesday morning. Here’s a peek at the schedule, subject to change:

I want to nickname it “Gargantua” 😆

Again, please register for FREE here, but also don’t forget you can upgrade your ticket and be showered with a ton of bonuses that are pretty awesome:

https://loveyourdubs.com 🎟️

Here are the Curry and Hield videos with their transcripts underneath. The fried rice reference is at the 8:09 mark of Buddy’s transcript below. Clickable timestamps are on the YouTube channel in the Comments:

00:00 STEPH CURRY, WARRIORS PRACTICE, TWO DAYS BEFORE GSW-LAL: Legitimately.

00:04 Alright, Steph, how would you rate some of your teammates karaoke performances yesterday?

00:12 Alex was the star of the show for sure. Court coverage, crowd play. song choice. LJ was solid. Who else was it? What am I missing? Temptations. Oh, yeah, no, the video squad, they weren’t prepared. They just winged it. But, it was always fun just having little new energy at the open practice.

00:43 You’re, you guys are now 11 days in, what’s the vibe? You, what are you feeling? What are you seeing? what are you taking from these first 11 days?

00:52 Just continue to, build on the identity that we formed last year with some subtle tweaks. Adding Al having a full training camp with Jimmy. Some things that we all know, impact winning on the defensive end, and then just trying to get a little bit more organized in terms of how we’re gonna create shots offensively. But you don’t really, you, the vibe is great. Everybody’s locked in. Practice has been competitive and fun, a balance of teaching and going out there and experimenting a little bit. And you could tell with all the different lineups, we know that there’s still gonna be a lot to work on in terms of the chemistry and just the certain combinations. But that’s part of the journey of training camp. But I just like the vibe and the intentionality that we’re all coming with, on understanding, we need to get out to a good start and trying to make that happen.

01:54 Are you able to visualize the spacing you guys can create with all your different lineups?

02:01 Yeah, I think I, with Al, QP and Draymond at the four, a little bit more, there are different looks. Hopefully that can help JK a little bit too in some of those lineups with, a spacing five at times. But, you gotta be able to match that with also the, defensive end. And there are things we got, we know we can do better. Two, two preseason games in it, attention detail on rotations, rebounding, stuff like that. But I think at any training camp, it’s indicative of like, when. One through whatever it’s, 19, we have 18, whatever it’s on the, everybody who gets out there is playing hard and enjoying. it was cool to watch that vibe against Portland. Those, fourth quarter, ‘cause there’s just a competitiveness that we were having in camp and practices that translates to the game. That’s, you always like to see that.

03:01 Steve and Buddy both mentioned Jimmy’s session today. How good was Jimmy today? What’d you see from him?

03:10 It was like a, I don’t know. Very impactful this day across the board of getting to a spot, just competitive will, our practices have been, like, I repeat myself, they’ve been really at a pretty high level. Not every day is you’re scrimmaging, but we, built up to a good session today and from jump, Jimmy was attacking the rim, dictating the pace on both ends. He wasn’t on my team, so I didn’t like to see it, but it was indicative of the ceiling that we can get to with a guy like that, that knows at any moment, he knows how to win.

04:00 I know you’ve already answered some questions about this, but how has the experience being teammates with Seth compared to what you expected it would be so far?

04:10 It’s been good, the whole summer it was rumored and teased a little bit that could be something that could happen at that 15th roster spot and came down to the day of training camp or day after training camp, pretty much, when it became official. Played with him in 2013 training camp before he went to Santa Cruz, and then before that it was my senior year of high school. We played one year. So I just, I know how he approaches the game. I know how good he is. I know you know how he can be, he can lift the locker room too, and I, not just that, but knows how to pick and choose a spot depending on his, role and his opportunity. And he always finds a way to just get it done. I know he is not, he hasn’t played yet in the preseason, but it’s cool to practice against him, see what I know has been the case for the last decade, watching him go through his career and how he does things behind the scenes and gets to hang out with his nieces and nephews a little bit more too, which is cool.

05:23 Hey Steph, do you feel like this training camp, like, how does this training camp compare to past seasons in terms of intensity? Because a lot of you guys are saying, like, this is a pretty intense training camp.

05:33 They are, they all are intense and they should be, and I think there’s, it’s just a different element this year. Maybe just ‘cause outside of championship years when you’re coming back, this is the continuity of how we ended last year into this year is probably at a high, in the sense of understanding what we need to do to carry the momentum that we had last year. So there are also is a balance. We know trying to, again, we have 39 year olds all the way down to 21 year olds. So you gotta balance like the teaching element and the preparation on fundamentals and details with also getting in shape, creating that vibe that we can be a winning team from jump, and combining that know-how with the youth that we have is, has been pretty fun.

06:31 You had a four point play the other night. Just wanted to get your thoughts on your early impressions on the rule change, with regards to closeouts and the way defenders are allowed to close out the shooters.

06:42 Yeah, that was, we had the referee forum or talking about all the points of emphasis from the summer and that was one of ‘em. To me, it was overdue because it was a conversation of when you’re shooting, how you protect the shooter. For me, like I, I flail a little bit ‘cause I don’t wanna roll on my ankle. It’s like a natural, like instinct. It’s not, but when it became something where people were attacking hands, doing like not just a closeout but like a second motion going at arms and hands and stuff like that, it’s not basketball. It has nothing to do with affecting a shot. It’s more just putting people in danger, that type of thing and it’s avoidable. You can still play great defense and avoid doing that. And so when I got that one, and I knew it was coming as soon as I think it was, Camara came across. It’s like that, they call it the second action. You can have a contest and do, you know, what’s normal basketball defense and the normal shot contest, but the second act, act where you’re coming through or delivering a blow or whatever, that should, we’ve been trying to get that call for years. So is I, do appreciate that as a shooter. I’m sure I’ll argue one when, if it happens to me on the other end, but that’s just part of basketball.

08:03 Hello Stephen. What’s so impress about, of Yang Hansen after facing him on Wednesday, Yang?

08:10 Say that again.

08:11 What’s so impress about, of the Yang Hansen, one Chinese player, after facing him on Wednesday.

08:21 I think he’s got great potential. That size is crazy, so it’ll get used to the speed of the game and all of that, but didn’t look out of place at all. So that’s, it’s a great start, but we’ll see him again on Tuesday. But yeah, it’s hard to give real impressions on rookies this early. But you’re happy that he is representing, international basketball, Chinese basketball, just the idea of the game growing figuratively, and metaphorically. What’d you say?

08:58 Sorry. He says play the video game against you and Jimmy and Draymond. How’s that feel like?

09:08 It’s cool to still be around long enough where people give that type of feedback on what the experience is playing against you. So that’s cool, for sure.

09:17 Thank you. Do you already have a number 31 jersey framed at the house somewhere?

09:24 Not yet. Not yet. it’s coming for sure. Seth’s been around the block. A couple different, a couple different teams, different numbers. I have the Portland 31 jersey. I got the Dallas 30 and the Philly 30, the Philly 31. Yeah, so I’ve got ‘em all. So I’m gonna, I’m get one of these too.

09:46 Whose idea was the switch last night?

09:52 It was actually his idea in the tunnel. And then I said, he didn’t wanna do my idea. I said, when they announced me, he should have ran out. And then when they announced me or him, I should have ran out. We were trying to take it to another level, but.

10:04 Is there any thought of wearing 30? You wearing 31 for a game this year?

10:08 You said what?

10:09 You would wear 31 for a game.

10:13 I’m sure Adam Silver would love that.

10:16 On a serious note, what have you seen so far from LJ a few weeks in?

10:24 You can just tell he is a winner. That’s point blank and everywhere he is been, they’ve had success. Baylor, Houston, the fourth quarter, second half here. Not gonna put all that on weight on their shoulders for one game, but it’s a really cool experience to see somebody make that transition. And just, you could tell the way he carries himself. He’s confident in his abilities. He makes impactful plays, whether he makes or misses those shots, you, he just has a presence about him and there’s a reason he’s a winner. So it’s been cool to get to know him a little bit and I’m wishing the best for him ‘cause he is a great kid. Great presence in, on and off the court.

11:08 What are your early impressions of Will Richard?

11:14 Another winner, obviously the champ. And he has an approach. He just plays hard right now. And that’s, that is a skill like for a lot of young guys coming in. Sometimes, as a, a young guy, whether you know exactly what you’re doing or not, you can maybe be a little hesitant or overthink stuff. He’s just hooping, just playing hard, competing. You can tell his defensive abilities. And the ceiling is pretty high for him as a two-way player. I know his offense will come in terms of timing and being able to knock down open shots and be able to finish possessions, but I just love the way he approaches the game with his competitiveness, his, energy. Like you, you could tell he cares. And, that is a skillset that’ll carry you a long way.

00:00 BUDDY HIELD, WARRIORS PRACTICE, 2 DAYS BEFORE GSW-LAL: Big time hike. Oh, mic is hot.

00:04 Have you ever been here? Have you ever been here before on the fourth floor (of Chase Center)?

00:07 No. It’s fire. Nice view. How we doing today? Alright, bright, ready, gray.

00:15 How was practice today? We heard that you guys did a pretty hard scrimmage.

00:19 Yeah. Jimmy dominated practice today. That was great for him. He look, he looked really good. He looked like a professional today, but it’s great energy, the vets brought it today and, and we just could keep building man and keep chopping down until we got these preseason games and building and correct the things that we need to correct. And, we not on be sharp as we want to, but if we can keep on building 1% every day and, until we get to that first game and, keep building from the Batman. Great start. And we have a great coach ahead of us and great vets and Draymond is always leading the way, definitely leading the way. And we just got a follow their lead and I can’t wait for Sunday.

01:05 Did Jimmy dominate today like he did in Minnesota when he went against the Timberwolves in practice?

01:14 I wasn’t there, so I can’t say about that, but he just won today. We can leave it as that, but he was good. He was good. It’s good to see him, man, and he looked really sharp, making jump shots, being physical. That’s the Jimmy we know,

01:33 It’s funny you say that because when Steve was in here, he basically said the same thing, that Jimmy had an incredible practice. And we’re, like, what does that mean.

01:43 Either good thing or bad thing. What you want me to say? Yeah, I think it’s good for the energy because you know that he shows where his greatness is at. And I think preseason he’s being dominant, too, just in his spurts with the minutes he’s being given. And I just think he just took it up a notch today. And he wasn’t chirping, none of that. The Jimmy we know of, just silent killer. And his work speaks for itself. And that speaks volumes in the practice room.

02:11 I remember you saying last year that you liked the spacing on this team.

02:16 Huh?

02:16 Remember, you said last year before, early in the season, you said you liked the spacing on this team, right? It looks like you might have even more spacing this year. is that possible? What are you seeing so far?

02:26 It’s because of addition of Al, Seth Curry, Melton. Yeah, of course. For the guys like Jimmy and Steph to get downhill and JK to do what they do at elite level, yeah, you need spacing and it’s great, man, and guys want Steph to shoot layups and Jimmy to be physical and shoot layups and dunking on the rim JK. And if, when it’s time to collapse, guys like me, Steph, QP, Moses, gotta be ready to catch and shoot and fire and to bail them out and to keep them honest.

03:00 After a week of training camp and now two games at home, does it kinda feel good to go on the road and play some games away from Chase?

03:07 Yes, of course. It feels good, not being rude, saying that just to get out the building, see something new, scenery and sometimes change the scenery is good and it’s great for the whole group. And it builds camaraderie, too.

03:23 You’ve been around the rookies a little bit, the young guys. Who do you, who are you looking at and going, “Okay, he can be, he could be,” you have any guys that you like so far, the rookies?

03:31 I love all the, I love all the rookies so far, man. I think we’ll have great defensive intangibles. You can tell why, because of his National Championship experience. He’s been really coached, really well. And LJ, you can tell the same thing. He’s playing at the National Championship, too. He’s being coached really well and, like, two coaches. Yeah, man. They have a lot. They’re having a great training camp. Of course, you have vets ahead of them, but they come on solid. They’re very coachable and they’re fun group guys to be around and you can tell yesterday about LJ and his birthday, Will, he’s always asking questions and those guys are eager to learn and eager to get better. And, of course, eager to get on the floor too.

04:16 Is there anybody on this team that you enjoy torching? I remember when I say this, because when Jordan Poole was here, he used to say, he used to love to torch Gary. So, “I love to beat him in practice, Gary, I get him too.” Is there anybody that you’d like to have fun with, in terms of like just taking him?

04:29 No, I like back and forth with Draymond because I know he’s very competitive and he’s an elite trash talker, but I know when he talks he, like, it stings. And so you gotta shut him up sometimes, so that’s my job, whenever I go against him, just to make sure to shut him up. But I love competing against him because he’s the ultimate competitor. And I think that, a guy like that, he makes you better. And then it’s coming from a good place. And I was always being coached that way when somebody’s just like coming at you and just talking trash the whole every day. And, like, I feed off that and, I think he, we all know he’s the heart and soul of the team and I just love the back and forth, especially when I go against him today. I wasn’t on his team today. We lost today. Jimmy won. But when I compete against him, I love to shut him up because when he’s not talking, I’m doing a good job or my team is doing a great job. But he’s the heart and soul of his team. And we need him to be that fire that get everybody’s going. And I appreciate him so much each and every day.

05:32 Who’s the best trash talker ever?

05:34 It gotta be him. And the reason I say is the guy, like, when he talks, like he has the rings to back it up. So like, really, like, you really can’t say back, like, you just, he’s a proven champion. And once you’ve proven it in this league and, like, you just gotta shut him out, man. You just gotta take that and fight another day.

05:55 Hello, Buddy. I’m media from China, so I’m gonna ask you some question about your China trip this summer. And, what’s your impression about basketball fans and basketball culture in China?

06:08 I think probably they got the best fans in the world, One, I say that because they’re very, they love the game so much and now guys like the NBA players that come over, they really, you really see the appreciations of the love of the game and that you’re gonna get better each and every day. And they support our league more than anybody in the world. We are very appreciative of them. And I wanna go back to China next summer. I want to see different cities and explore. And I was able to explore Shanghai, Xian with the warriors. I got to visit there. And, It’s a fun trip and It’s fast, but hopefully when I go back I wanna stay for a week or so and I really got to experience the Chinese culture, but it’s fun.

06:54 Yeah, so because basketball, you have a chance to know the different culture, to connect the different people, what’s that mean to you?

07:02 It just means because it shows, like, how global the game is and you just connect with the fans to the game that we all love, which is basketball and just connecting. And I feel that’s an easy way, just, connecting with fans is just right through the game of basketball. And that’s why the game is so global. And I’m just, I’m glad to be a part of this game because my coach from The Bahamas always tell me, this game, basketball will take you all around the world. And I never understand what that meant. And now I do. It takes me places to China. I played in Greece last summer. I played in Spain last summer. And, take you luck, because this game is global and like it makes you appreciate other countries and you get to be a part of that, their country and show their day-to-day lives. And I’m very appreciative of the game of basketball.

07:47 So they have five Warriors player visiting China this summer, you, Jimmy, Draymond, Seth, Stephen.

07:54 Yeah.

07:54 Have you guys shared a story about those trip with each other?

07:57 Yes. We talk about it and we all said we all had good, good rapports and I think that, yeah, I think we all wanna go back again. I know those guys will go back again for sure, because they have their shoe deals, but I’m looking forward to going back next summer.

08:09 Have you tried fried rice?

08:11 Oh, I love fried rice. It’s easy. I put lobster in my fried rice. I put shrimp, everything. It’s elite.

08:22 Thank you.

08:22 Yeah.

08:24 For this game on Sunday, what are some of your emphasises for you and the team to focus on?

08:30 Just keep building, get into our habits and trusting and take it up another notch. I feel like last year we didn’t, last game, we didn’t have that pop that we needed, but that’s why we have preseason. So you go back to film and see how we can correct. Every game’s not gonna be perfect. This is the NBA. We have plenty of guys who are elite, superior talent, but we know what we need to fix and hopefully we come out a lot of pop, a lot of energy and stay true to our habits. Thank you.

09:00 Thanks, Buddy. Respect. Thank you.

🫶💙💛