To listen to the coaches and players under the Warriors umbrella -- and to study stat sheets from the first two games – Chavano Rainer Hield is living up to his nickname.
Buddy.
A Warrior for less than four months, Buddy Hield has been the practically perfect teammate. Effervescent, humorous, gregarious. Everybody loves Buddy.
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“Great vibes, man, just great energy,” Draymond Green told reporters Friday night after Golden State’s 127-86 thumping of the Jazz at Delta Center. “He is a complete team guy. Buddy is the guy trying to get everybody together for dinner, Buddy is the guy trying to get everyone together to hang out. He is the guy that's kind of molding this whole thing together behind the scenes. And I think that's a beautiful thing.”
Another of Hield’s endearing qualities is that three days into the season, with his contentment overflowing, he’s flying out of the NBA blocks, making a spirited effort to be the practically perfect Sixth Man.
Though many card-carrying citizens of Dub Nation are saddened by the departure of Golden State’s longtime 3-point specialist Klay Thompson, they are finding comfort in the triples coming off Buddy’s fingertips. He has made 12 of his first 16 shots from beyond the arc, which comes to an adorable 75 percent. He is 18-of-26 from the field, an astonishing 69.2 percent.
Between his personal warmth and the blast of heat with which he is wilting opposing defenses, Buddy is gaining. new friends faster than a billionaire publicly vowing to donate every cent to charity within 24 hours.
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“He just, he brings so much energy to the floor, and part of it is the way he plays,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Just seeking those shots and seeking the 3s and sprinting the floor. He runs so hard both directions, and it sets a tone for us.
“And then the other part is he’s just had an incredible person and teammate. Full of joy. The bench is laughing all the time with him. What he brings to the team goes way beyond you know just his shooting, but that's massive in and of itself.”
After a stellar collegiate career at the University of Oklahoma – he shot 45.7 percent from deep as a senior – Hield was selected sixth overall in the 2016 NBA draft by New Orleans. Six months later, he was traded to the Sacramento in a deal that sent DeMarcus Cousins, then a two-time All-Star, to the Pelicans. After five seasons with the Kings, Hield was traded to Indiana, which two years later traded him to Philadelphia.
He was his team’s most dangerous 3-point shooter at every stop. He was second in 3-point makes, behind Stephen Curry, in 2020-21 and 2021-22, and second behind Thompson in 2022-23. Hield dropped to 15th last season, which was split between the Pacers and the Sixers.
The “shooter atop the scouting report” designation changed last July, when the Warriors acquired Buddy from the 76ers in a six-team trade. He was, at 31, coming to a team that has the 3-point shooting king in Curry and runs a lot of motion offense.
It is as if after eight NBA seasons, with four different teams, Buddy has found his house of bliss.
“I keep preaching to everybody that it's having the right intent, the right mindset, being together and then sacrificing, starting from the leaders Steph, Draymond and Steve,” Hield said. “Everybody comes together as one, and everybody is putting each other first.
“Steph is one of the most humble superstars ever been around. The way he carries himself on and off the basketball court. I just watch them and then try to follow the footsteps. Just look up to them and in a way that I see basketball in a different way than I did on previous teams.”
Buddy’s accuracy is unsustainable. But he’s a career 40-percent shooter from beyond the arc, and he accomplished that without sharing the court with Curry or anyone else whose 3-point shot is atop the opposing scouting report.
Finally having considerable room to breathe, Buddy is benefitting from an offense that suits his constant motion and often will be defended by players on the opposing second unit. And sometimes, he’ll be sharing the court with Curry.
Hield has come off the bench and been the team’s top scorer in the first two games, totaling 49 points in 35 minutes. He is having fun and torching nets.
“He looked like Buddy from Oklahoma again, the way he's moving around and finding shots,” Green said after Hield scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 7-of-9 from deep against the Jazz.
“But we knew coming in the one thing we've all said is that we know what Buddy is going to give us,” Green added. “He’s been doing exactly that. We’ve got to make sure we keep doing a good job of finding him.”
That shouldn’t be so hard. A good human always looks out for their Buddy.