Don’t know how we missed the Warriors installation of a hysterical cartoon parody of the Game of Thrones done NBA style, but we did. Wildcats fans should enjoy this.
Last October, Bleacher Report teamed with former Arizona Wildcats and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to make a parody video to be shown to Kerr’s team before training camp started at Kerr’s request. You may have seen the video but not have known there was an entire associated back story.
A lot was talked about over the summer after the Warriors won the championship. One major question concerned Andre Iguodala and if he was going to come off the bench or not in the ensuing season.
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That said, the Warriors head coach contacted his former broadcasting buddies at Turner Sports (who owns Bleacher Report) and asked for the cartoon parody full of inside jokes only his team would get. Kerr is tied to Turner stemming from his eight-season stint on the TNT network.
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Who would Producer Kerr put in charge of dishing out all the inside jokes? None other than his personal assistant Nick U’Ren according to B/R’s Grant Hughes.
"Once the project got its green light from B/R’s editorial higher-ups, Kerr’s personal assistant, Nick U’Ren (the staffer widely credited with the strategic decision to start Andre Iguodala in the NBA Finals) sent off a pair of emails containing over 1,200 words of dirt on the Warriors players and coaches who’d be featured in the video."
This wasn’t the first installment of the Game of Zones; previous episodes include Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers and his son Austin Rivers. If you haven’t seen these, it’s worth a look. Most of the episodes are centered on the fans enjoying themselves, but this one was focused on the players on the Warriors team.
Two guys, Adam, and Craig Malamut provide all the voices, writing, and animation of each installment. They didn’t have much time to get it done; it usually takes them 4-6 weeks.
Former Arizona Wildcats Andre Iguodala, Luke Walton, and Steve Kerr all have hilarious parts. Former Wildcat Bruce Fraser is also on the coaching staff. Not only are there Wildcats on the Warriors, but there are also other Pac-12 alumni on the team including Andrew Bogut (Utah), and Klay Thompson (Washington State). Even Riley Curry, Steph Curry’s adorable daughter, made it into the comedy.
Here are some of the notes that U’Ren provided the Malamut’s according to Hughes:
- “Whenever Coach Kerr ends practice or gives the guys a day off, Brandon Rush always says ‘Get what you neeeeed’ in a high-pitched voice. I have attached an audio file for you to hear it yourself—that is actually his voice. It is probably the most repeated saying from our team throughout the year.”
- “During an interview in the regular season, Leandro Barbosa said, ‘We gonna be championship‘ … which our players had a ton of fun with.”
- “Iguodala has a saying he always uses (apologies for the vulgarity) when he shoots a jumper that he feels is going in: ‘Hold my !’ or sometimes it is abbreviated to just ‘Hold it!'”
- “ Ron Adams’ name for proper defensive position when guarding the ball is ‘Stick stance.’ Our players love to make fun of that term. It would be great to have someone comment on Ron’s stick stance as he stood in this funky position.”
Hughes suggests the bigger message here from Kerr to his team was that the Warriors don’t want just to be a one Championship winning team; there is no slacking here, a legacy is what he is aiming for.
Here is the video with the Warriors reactions in full (the video may get ‘R’ rated at the end, just a heads up):
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Did the video do the trick for Kerr? Well, our former Cats and their Warriors team are a stunning 40-4 and with the Cleveland Cavaliers in disarray, they are the favorite to repeat as NBA Champions in 2016.