Power of science: Warriors thriving with chemistry experiment

OAKLAND -- Zaza Pachulia holds his own during competitive games of poker on the airplane alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson - they call it the "Good Guys Table." Andre Iguodala and JaVale McGee, one-time teammates with Denver reunited in Oakland, hold secret chats.

"We're building an empire," Iguodala joked. "We've got secret stuff we can't talk about."

Jonnie West - son of Hall of Famer and Warriors executive Jerry West - joins Curry, Pachulia and Thompson for their card games.

"It depends how Klay feels. If he's tired, then no card game," Pachulia said.

With all that was made before the season about adding Kevin Durant to an already star-studded roster, Golden State's players have jelled just fine. The NBA-best Warriors (47-9) are gearing up for the second half and what they hope is another championship run, and chemistry sure isn't holding them back.

Two-time reigning MVP Curry and KD love to watch each other accomplish amazing things on the floor, along with Draymond Green and Thompson and all of the others who contribute off the bench.

Curry initially allowed Durant to find his groove, then began to assert himself more and increase his shots. Experience playing together is the biggest factor to keep building team bonds, if you ask Iguodala.

"Weathering storms builds chemistry and adversity builds chemistry," he said. "The season's long and you want to have all types of ups and downs. And that's where you build it the most, and off the court, plane rides. I think when you play with teammates seven, eight years, you're still building throughout that time. You continue to learn about each other. You've just got to understand that that's part of the process and you've got to want to learn from one another."

The Warriors are counting on every advantage they can gain, on and off the court. During flights, team dinners, anywhere.

After a heartbreaking Game 7 to end last season's NBA Finals, Golden State's players want nothing short of a championship. Many of them got a taste winning the title two years ago for the franchise's first in 40 years.

Steve Kerr, the reigning NBA Coach of the Year, gets a kick out of watching his teams come together each year.

"It's one of my favorite parts of coaching honestly, is seeing how a team comes together, seeing the relationships develop, seeing guys laughing together, seeing who hangs out with who," Kerr said. "It's great. This team has a really, really good chemistry that developed really quickly. Obviously, we had the core group intact from last year. We lost some key guys, too. The additions have been great. The chemistry is really good."

Pachulia took it upon himself to be a part of that. With constant attention on the Warriors, he knows the importance of sticking together through all of the many challenges that come in an 82-game season - and those things prepare a group for the postseason.

"You wish for the chemistry to come right away because you're kind of feeling pressure, a lot of talk's going on from outside," Pachulia said. "The reality is it's a process. It takes some days, it takes some games. It takes some bumps as well for the team to get on the same page and get the chemistry right. You've got to go through the process. I just don't see it the other way. We couldn't wait for these 40 or 50 games to pass and see where we were going to be. I feel really confident where we are right now, with everything we had throughout this 50 games, even the losses we had unexpected. It made us better, it made us stronger. You can appreciate it, honestly. We care about each other. We're on the same page. Keep going. We're not going to stop."

For Iguodala and McGee, the "chatter" stays between them.

"I have a lot of really in-depth conversations with JaVale McGee," Iguodala said, "about life."

OAKLAND -- Mess with one Warrior, you mess with the entire organization.

Thats the message the Warriors sent out Friday in the wake of a Twitter beef between center JaVale McGee and TNT analyst Shaquille ONeal that began late Thursday night and carried into the wee hours Friday morning.

Coach Steve Kerr fired back at ONeal, as did Warriors forward Kevin Durant. The Warriors, as a franchise, contacted ONeals bosses.

Kerr spent a portion of his post-practice news conference Friday afternoon defending McGee from ONeals relentless ridicule on the video segment Shaqtin A Fool. Durant said ONeals ongoing critiques are childish, adding that ONeal was a great player with his own imperfections.

Prior to the comments by Durant and Kerr, though, it was confirmed by CSNBayArea.com that the Warriors contacted Turner Sports in hopes of getting TNTs parent company to persuade ONeal to curb the constant derision directed toward McGee because of its impact on his image and reputation.

The outreach was a direct response to a roughly two-minute segment Thursday night that was strictly limited to castigating McGee.

Upon getting wind of Durants comments, ONeal turned to Twitter to tell Durant that McGee is a bum and to mind yo business.

OAKLAND -- The long-simmering acrimony between retired NBA star Shaquille ONeal and Warriors center JaVale McGee reached epic proportions late Thursday night and early Friday morning when the two engaged in a Twitter beef.

By Friday afternoon, Kevin Durant was stepping into the fray. He didnt bother with Twitter, instead speaking his mind and firing verbal grenades at Shaq.

JaVale works extremely hard, Durant said after practice. He has come in here and done so much for us as a player. He only wants to be respected, just like anybody else. And I understand that Shaq works for a company that wants him to do that type of stuff, and make fun of players. Its cool and funny.

But when you just keep doing it time and time and time again, for no reason, and then a guy actually disagrees with you? And you threaten him? I didnt know cops could threaten civilians like that.

ONeal currently is a reserve police officer in Doral, Fla. He also has served in that capacity in several other cities.

The latest ONeal-McGee spat began when ONeal, now an analyst at TNT who frequently targets McGee for ridicule, presented a video Thursday night that mocked McGee. It was very personal.

McGee took offense and responded on Twitter, which led to the two men exchanging insults, with McGee accusing ONeal of cooning, and ONeal calling McGee dumb and threatening to smack the s--t out of McGee.

Though McGee was not available Friday, he was sharply defended by Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Durant.

Its definitely childish, Durant said. But thats what they want from these stars and these retired players, is to feud with the guys that are playing now and make arguments and disagreements. If I was JaVale, Id feel the same way. Its childish.

Shaq wants to make a joke about it, but if it was him in that position, he would feel the same way.

Everybody cant be Shaq. Hes trying to make his money and enjoy the game of basketball, and his perception of him is that hes a dumb player because he makes mistakes on the court. Shaq was a sh---yfree-throw shooter. He missed dunks. He air-balled free throws. He couldnt shoot outside the paint. He was bigger than everybody. He didnt have any skill. But he was bigger and stronger than everybody.

Durant then turned his head and seemed to speak directly to ONeal.

He was still a great player, but you had your flaws too as a player, he said. And you played on five of six teams, too. So its not like youre this perfect center. You had your flaws too. Like I said, I didnt know cops could go on Twitter and threaten civilians like that. Im glad JaVale challenged him.

Kerr, who has known ONeal for more than 20 years, also came to McGees defense.

I dont blame him for being frustrated, he said Kerr. Shaqs been picki
ng on him for years and years and years. And JaVale, rightfully so, probably gets frustrated. It never ends. And its one thing to just have a little fun, but you can go a little bit over the top.

Its one of those things. If you think about JaVales career, when youre in this position where someone is on national TV making fun of you night after night, its not the greatest thing for your reputation.

I can tell you, I had a preconceived notion of JaVale before he got here that turned out to be totally false. And a lot of that was because of what goes on with Shaqs Shaqtin A Fool thing.

***

Shaq responded to Durant Friday on Twitter, writing "@KDTrey5 mind yo business this ain't for you," and "@KDTrey5 I understand u sticking up for your teammate that's cool but your boy @JaValeMcGee34 is still a bum, he started it I'm a finish it."

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