Steve Kerr, Warriors having ‘a lot enjoyable’ watching Macklin Celebrini in Olympics

Steve Kerr, Warriors having ‘so much fun’ watching Macklin Celebrini in Olympics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Sharks star Macklin Celebrini has been one of the stars of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, and it’s not the primary time the 19-year-old has caught the eye of his Bay Area sports counterparts.

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Celebrini’s success notably is thrilling for the Warriors, on condition that his father, Rick, has been the workforce’s director of sports activities drugs and efficiency since 2018.

That connection has made Golden State honorary followers of Team Canada over the previous two weeks, when Celebrini has scored 5 targets and added 5 assists in 5 video games up to now.

Steve Kerr detailed the expertise watching Celebrini in an interview Friday with 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” show.

“This has been so much fun for all of us, but especially for Rick and his family to watch Macklin,” Kerr advised Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “This morning, we were getting ready to start our film session, and the Canada game was 2-2 in the final minutes. Basically the whole team was watching the last two minutes. We saw them score, and everybody went nuts. We’re all so thrilled for Macklin and his family and Rick. So it’s been fun to follow.”

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Rick has been away from the Warriors to observe his son in Milan, although Kerr revealed they’ve had day by day communication from throughout the Atlantic. And although Sunday’s gold medal sport in opposition to the United States is about for simply after 5 a.m. PT, Kerr confirmed he’ll be watching.

However, when requested who he’s rooting for, Kerr wouldn’t give a robust reply: “I love my country, and I love the Celebrini family.”

The Warriors coach mentioned the younger phenom extra after Saturday’s observe, even including in some traditional Kerr banter aimed on the elder Celebrini.

“It’s been so fun when they flash to Rick and the family in the stands, you know, to see the joy on their faces, the pride,” Kerr advised reporters (h/t Kenzo Fukuda). “And then watching Macklin — I don’t know a ton about hockey, but it’s pretty obvious that at 19 he’s one of their most trusted players and seems to be on the ice an awful lot at the most critical times.

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“Pretty remarkable at that age that he can become that trusted, that good, this quickly, especially in the face of such poor parenting growing up. I don’t know how he’s been able to overcome. Thank God for [Rick’s wife] Robyn [Celebrini], that’s what I would say. The mom clearly has done all the work.”

As a former teammate of gamers like Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan, in addition to Steph Curry’s longtime coach, Kerr has been round his fair proportion of legendary athletes. And although he’s admittedly not the sharpest hockey thoughts, he supplied some attention-grabbing cross-sport perception into Celebrini’s success.

“What I feel is that Macklin has the combination that is so rare of incredible talent and unbelievable leadership, maturity, humanity. Just he gets it. He gets it, at 19,” Kerr defined. “It usually takes guys years to be mature enough to understand how to compete, how to conduct yourself, how to treat your teammates, and not to make the Steph comparison, but that’s what it takes to be a superstar. It’s not just the talent, it’s the intangibles, and Macklin seems to have the intangibles.

“I couldn’t have told you that, you know, five years ago when he was in here training or even two years ago. We just knew he was a really good prospect, but yeah, it’s impressive to watch.”