He had to wait nearly a year for it, but Detroit Pistons center Zaza Pachulia finally received his 2017-18 NBA Championship ring from the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. In his first visit to Oracle Arena as a visitor this year, Pachulia was received warmly by his former home crowd, being gifted his ring by former teammate Klay Thompson.
Klay Thompson gives Zaza Pachulia his championship ring pic.twitter.com/92DTb4S3uR
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 25, 2019
Congratulations on your 2018 NBA Championship ring, @zaza27! pic.twitter.com/NM2nbXrDZA
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 25, 2019
Pachulia spent the past two seasons as Golden State’s primary starting center, appearing in 139 regular-season games (127 starts). He has since moved on to Detroit, where he entered the night averaging 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds across 13.3 minutes per game. The numbers during his age-34 season are the lowest that they’ve been since his age-19 rookie year back in 2003-04 with the Orlando Magic.
Pachulia has played 16 years in the NBA, but he is arguably best known for his two years in which he won rings with the Warriors. His first trip up the mountain in 2016-17 saw him start all 15 playoff games he appeared in, but he saw action in just seven games last year, all as a reserve. Still, Warriors fans remember the role that Pachulia played in bringing those rings to the Bay Area.
While his odds may not be as high as they have been in the past two seasons, Pachulia appears to have another shot at a ring in 2018-19. Serving as the backup to Andre Drummond, Pachulia and the Pistons entered the night as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. Should they lock up a playoff bid, it would be the veteran’s ninth trip to the postseason.
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