OAKLAND — The Warriors will unveil their championship banner at Oracle Arena. They will receive and show off their diamond-clad rings in an on-court ceremony Tuesday.
Moments later, the Warriors will have to set aside some of their emotions and tip off the regular season with a game against the up-and-coming New Orleans Pelicans. Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton said it was discussed at practice Monday that the pregame festivities could take away from the team’s focus.
“It’s a night that these guys will remember the rest of their lives,” Walton said. “That being said, you can’t help but be excited about it and not have 100 percent of your focus on the game and the team you’re playing. We know that, and we’re hopeful that we’ll get our rings, we’ll be happy, and then we’ll be able to transition our mindset to beating the Pelicans.”
Walton has experienced two ring ceremonies with the Los Angeles Lakers. The rest of the Warriors recalled how a day after Stephen Curry received the Most Valuable Player award and gave an emotional speech, the Memphis Grizzlies beat them in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
“Hopefully we learn how to quickly get our engines back going,” Curry said. “We didn’t play terribly. We just didn’t have like that mojo that we wanted. I think as a team we should be able to feed off of that energy in the building.”
Curry, who was 2 for 11 from 3-point range in the loss to Memphis, hopes the situation doesn’t repeat.
“It’ll be tough to be in the moment and obviously enjoy seeing the ring for the first time and the banner and the crowd going crazy and just the whole ceremony,” Curry said. “You want to enjoy that and take it in for what it is because that’s a huge moment, and it’s a huge accomplishment.
“And then five minutes later, you’ve got to turn it on and remember your preparation for the Pelicans and try to get your first win at home. It’s going to be new territory for everybody.”
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told Pelicans.com the ceremony would be “really strange” for him as well. He was the Warriors’ associate head coach last season and helped turn the team’s offense into the highest-scoring unit in the league. Now he’ll be leading Anthony Davis in a bid to upstage the Warriors at their own party after they eliminated the Pelicans in the first round last season.
First, Gentry will receive his first championship ring after nearly three decades in the league.
“It’s going to be a little bit different in that these are people that we did something really special with and together, so you have a closeness there,” Gentry said. “But after this whole thing is over, we’ve got to try to find a way to compete and beat these guys, which is not going to be easy.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green smiled at the thought of Gentry’s role in the festivities.
“We’re going to enjoy that moment,” Green said. “Then he gotta get the boot.”
Gentry said he was thinking more about Steve Kerr getting his ring, as the head coach is expected to attend the ceremony during his leave of absence.
Without Kerr’s leadership, the Warriors have turned to the 35-year-old Walton at the start of the season. Kerr apparently has seen his condition improve, as he has attended practices this week. The timetable for his return is unknown.
“I don’t think it’ll matter at all,” TNT analyst Charles Barkley said of Kerr’s early-season absence. “They’re elite, one of four great teams in the West.”
Walton said he felt like the real coach and that he would act as such. His first task is to help his players get through the pregame celebration. Green said celebrating wasn’t the focus for anyone on the team.
“It’ll be good to get the ring, but we’re focused, locked in on the task ahead, which is a completely different task,” Green said.
“It’s tough, but we’ve got to put that aside and make sure we’re ready to go.”
For more on the Warriors, see the Inside the Warriors blog at www.ibabuzz.com/warriors. Follow Diamond Leung on Twitter at twitter.com/diamond83.
