Late-night meeting in gym set Celebrini on path to NBA
Exit unrelated to Linden leaving, says Canucks’ injury-prevention specialist
For Rick Celebrini, the art of his NBA deal was working with Steve Nash and getting to know Steve Kerr.
It’s how Celebrini, the former director of rehabilitation for the Vancouver Canucks and the Whitecaps, filled the director of sports medicine and performance void for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Celebrini’s work with Nash in Phoenix led to a chance meeting with Kerr, the current Warriors coach and the Suns’ former general manager.
“I got a call from (a different) NBA team the day before Golden State called, which was eerie,” Celebrini said Monday.
“My head was just spinning for a week or two as I explored both options.
“The teams called Steve Nash in advance of calling me and asked if I was interested. He said: ‘Probably not. But you can ask him.’ Steve Kerr was doing video analysis for Phoenix when I met him in the gym late at night. We talked about aspirations. Life comes full circle.”
Celebrini’s four years with the Canucks came via a close connection to Trevor Linden, the Canucks’ former president of hockey operations. Celebrini said his exit had nothing to do with Linden leaving.
“Not at all,” he said. “I was sorry to see Trevor go, but I was already well down the track in terms of my decision-making on this ( job) before that happened.”