Eric Paschall has been more than just a pleasant surprise for the Golden State Warriors after they drafted him with the 41st pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr even compared coaching the 23-year-old to coaching his two best players in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson:
“Honestly, it’s like coaching Steph and Klay — and that’s probably my highest compliment,” Kerr told Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “There’s zero maintenance with Eric. Zero maintenance. He’s obviously been parented and coached well throughout his life. We’re lucky to have him.”
The rookie out of Villanova was taken after Jordan Poole (28th) and Alen Smailagic (39th), but he has proven the most immediate contributor and the most NBA-ready asset to trot out on the court for the Warriors.
Kerr notably used his time coaching Team USA in the 2019 FIBA World Cup to get some insight on Paschall from Villanova coach Jay Wright, another member of Gregg Popovich's coaching staff. Instead of tips, Kerr saw Wright rave about his former player:
“It’s so great just to know that a guy is that mature,” Kerr said. “You can look him in the eye and be very honest with him and he looks you back and nods his head and says, ‘Yes,’ and then he actually works at it and you see the results. And it’s all just a really natural progression. No wasted emotion. No angst. It’s just very matter-of-fact.
“You have no idea how much this helps me, and our staff, to do our jobs.”
The Warriors have crash-landed after going to the NBA Finals for the past five years, but this gap season has been made a lot easier on Kerr and his staff by guys like Paschall who are so willing to take instruction and put it to use.
The Warriors rookie is averaging 14.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in 2019-20.
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