There’s a very good chance you have never heard of Rick Celebrini. Honestly, a better than good chance.
Celebrini is the Golden State Warriors’ vice president of player health and performance, one of the many unseen faces who make the Dubs run behind the scenes. This week, though, he is at the center of one of Golden State’s biggest storylines, because Celebrini basically has the final call as to whether a Warriors player with an injury plays or sits. And this time that injured player is Jimmy Butler — the Warriors’ do-everything deadline addition, who suffered a pelvic and glute muscle contusion when he crashed onto the hardwood floor in Game 2 of the Warriors-Rockets series, after a collision with Rockets’ Amen Thompson.