SAN FRANCISCO– Of all the stars the Golden State Warriors get credit for developing, Macklin Celebrini, a hockey player of all things, might become one of the brightest of them all.
Son of Rick Celebrini, the Golden State's heralded Vice President of Player Health and Performance, 19-year-old Macklin has risen to superstar status both in the NHL for the revamped San Jose Sharks and Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. It's a miraculous ascension that has not only the hockey world in a frenzy but also the entire Warriors organization cheering him on.
Ahead of Celebrini and Team Canada's highly anticipated gold medal match with Team USA, Dubs coach Steve Kerr talked at length about the internal excitement for the kid they used to watch shoot hoops after practice with his dad and some of the players.
“It's been so fun,” Kerr said. “Yesterday, at the film session, we had half the team watching the final two minutes of the game, because it was 2-2. It was 10 o'clock, and we're supposed to be starting film, and we're like, ‘Nope, we're gonna watch to see what happens.'”
What happened was Canada advancing past Finland in the final minute of the third period, and Celebrini completing a team-high 25:53 TOI – an unbelievable achievement for a player that young.
But before becoming the youngest-ever NHL player on Canada's men's Olympic team, when he wasn't training on the ice, Celebrini was on the hardwood. Kerr recounted the numerous occasions when Macklin and his brothers would play 2-on-2 full court in the Dubs' facilities after practice. You read that right, 2-on-2, full court, with his mother, Robin, hopping in as the fourth player to make for an even split.
“You want to see an athletic family in action,” Kerr laughed. “It's one of the fun parts of the job, seeing the families be a part of it… It's one of the best parts of the job. When we finish games, every game, win or lose, we open up the doors to the family room, and the kids come flooding in, and it's just awesome.
“I sit up in my office, I have a beer, and I look down, and I see these little pickup games happening with our players' kids and coaches' kids. People running around and players coming out, hugging their kids like it's this is a special profession, you know, to be able to share with your kids and they, you know, memories for a lifetime, but also good perspective for everybody.”
Whether Kerr and the Warriors were able to see early hints at what Celebrini would become, it's up for debate. For Moses Moody, who recounted the time the two spent rehabbing their individual injuries over the summer, he always knew Celebrini was destined for greatness.
“You know that trend that was going around with LeBron? Saying how he knew from the beginning?” Moody grinned. “Yeah, back when I first got here, I seen him and he had that look in his eye! And I said he's going to be– nah, I'm kidding.”
Though Moody didn't have the prescient vision LeBron James is blessed with when it came to Macklin, he is putting his chips in early on his youngest brother, RJ.
“Really, his little brother, the youngest brother. I talked to him for a while, and he really, he really does have this like this silent confidence and competitiveness, composure. I'm saying it beforehand with that one. I see something; he got a look in his eye. But Mack too– he's got that silent confidence too… being around him, he doesn't overdo it. But you can tell he's working. He's precise in conversation, you can, you can just tell when somebody's a thinker, more than a talker type of guy.”
In that vein, Kerr likened Celebrini's maturity and leadership to another superstar– Stephen Curry. The intangibles you can't teach Kerr described. Where those traits can take him, the sky's the limit. But if you ask Gary Payton II, he believes Celebrini can etch his name among the greats.
“I feel like he's going to end up being one of those, when it's all said and done, like Wayne, Sid, Alex, Mack,” Payton said. “It's exciting to see it from the start. [We'll] see where it goes, and it's going pretty, pretty damn good right now… I'm rooting for Mack for sure.”
Even with the unbelievable chance to stick it to Team USA tomorrow on the global stage, Celebrini's just getting started. But for a Warriors organization that got to see one of their own literally grow up into the star everyone else sees today, it's a special, special thing.
“Everybody's engaged, especially the guys who've been here for a while, who know Rick so well, and Macklin and the family,” Kerr said. “So it's pretty cool to see it all develop. And to see the pride in Rick's eyes and hearing it in his voice, it's wonderful.”
