Hield believes he has found NBA home with Warriors after long journey

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Hield believes he has found NBA home with Warriors after long journey originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – To Buddy Hield, the Bahamas will always be home. The food. The weather. The beaches and all the activities – from the nightlife and enjoying a glass of rum, to the freedom of jumping on a jet ski.

It’s where at 12 years old playing in a tournament while just in seventh grade Hield knew this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. His talent already was talked about throughout the country. His hunger for more equaled his love of getting up as many shots as possible, day by day.

Even in paradise, basketball became therapeutic at an early age. Pure, unfiltered joy.

But in the NBA, Hield’s home has featured multiple destinations. First in New Orleans for a short while before five years in Sacramento, two years in Indiana, three months in Philadelphia and now San Francisco, where Hield feels most at home in his nine-year career.

Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco is a uniquely special reason why. He is the head coach of the Bahamas men’s national basketball team, a country that has been on a historic rise in the sport. The Bahamas fell one win short of reaching the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, falling to Spain in July.

Making the pre-qualifying tournament was monumental in its own right, and Hield led the Bahamas in points per game with 19.8 in their four games. Though he’s his coach, Hield considers DeMarco, who’s only a few years older than him, a “big brother.”

“He made my decision easy coming here,” Hield said to NBC Sports Bay Area on the latest episode of “Dubs Talk,” which debuted Tuesday.

DeMarco sold Hield on how Steve Kerr relates to players as someone who has gone through the grind, and won as both a player and coach. On the flip side, how DeMarco handles himself leading the Bahamas, fiery yet calm, was something that translated to an NBA staff Hield wanted to play for.

An immense amount of credit should be given to DeMarco for the Bahamas’ recent success on the national stage.

“If it wasn’t for Chris, we’d have been 20 years back from who knows…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hield-believes-found-nba-home-182645486.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-12-10 18:26:00

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