Projected first overall pick Celebrini has special tie to Golden State Warriors

He may not be in the NHL yet, but Macklin Celebrini has already had his fair share of experience around professional athletes.

Celebrini, who is expected to be the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, has been around world-class athletes his entire life. His father, Rick, is the director of sports medicine and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. He has also worked for the Vancouver Canucks and the MLS’s Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Thanks to his dad’s work with the Warriors, Celebrini has met superstars such as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. The latter recently said that Celebrini and his brother, Aidan, exude everything their father is about. He also dove into just how important Rick has been to the Warriors’ success.

“[Rick] is someone that’s invaluable to us,” Green explained. “A guy that keeps guys on the floor. When guys aren’t on the floor, he puts plans together to make sure guys are firing on all cylinders. A guy who you can go talk to and confide in. That’s who Rick is to this team.”

Being able to hear stories and personally witness the work ethic of professional athletes has been extremely beneficial to Celebrini, who is well on his way to becoming one himself. The Vancouver native is dominating the college rankings at just 17, leading Boston University in scoring with 10 goals and 25 points in 15 games.

“I’ve really started to watch how [Curry, Thompson, and Green] do things. [My dad] always talks about Steph, just how detailed he is and how he’ll work out for six hours. It’s just what he loves.”

It is clear from hearing him talk that Rick is extremely passionate about what he does, and that passion has worn off on Celebrini. The young, talented forward made a big name for himself at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, scoring four goals and eight points in five games for Team Canada. Despite a disappointing exit in the quarter-final versus the Czechs, Celebrini had an outstanding tournament from a personal standpoint. Expect to hear his name plenty more in the coming months and years.

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