by Jim Slater
Agence France Presse
CLEVELAND, United States (AFP) — Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia plays a key inside role for the NBA’s winningest team, but they still can’t find a cap that fits him.
The 33-year-old man-mountain from Tbilisi is trying to become the first player from the nation of Georgia to win an NBA crown as the Warriors play defending champion Cleveland in the NBA Finals, which shifted scene Monday for games three and four on Wednesday and Friday in Cleveland.
Pachulia’s head and massive 6-foot-11 (2.11m), 275-pound (125 kg) frame was more than the adjustable-size Western Conference champions caps could manage, so teammate JaVale McGee made a giant one for him.
“They didn’t make the hat in Zaza size,” Warriors star guard Stephen Curry said. “Hopefully they get that fixed if we win the finals and they can get a bigger hat for him.”
It’s that sort of support that prompted Pachulia to take less money to play for the Warriors, signing a one-season deal for $2.9 million as a replacement for Australian Andrew Bogut, who was traded away for salary room to sign star forward Kevin Durant.
Pachulia, who will be a free agent after this season, averaged 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game this season and provided strong defense for a team that often goes with a smaller, quicker lineup.
He took some criticism in the Western Conference finals after San Antonio star Kawhi Leonard injured his left ankle landing on Pachulia’s foot in game one, but again teammates were there to back the big man.
“I had full support from my teammates,” he said. “We’re a family here and definitely I had no doubt in my mind that starting that night, starting with text messages, I had all their support. That’s what made it easier for me to get over it all.”
The son of a former Soviet judo champion and a power forward for the Soviet women’s basketball team, Pachulia has played for Orlando, Milwaukee, Atlanta and Dallas over 14 NBA seasons, averaging 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds a game in 961 career games.
But this is his first trip to the NBA Finals.
“We’re ready to take the challenge and be physical for every game,” Pachulia said. “I like our talent in our locker room. It’s a totally different team than this team was last year. I love our chances.”
Pachulia conducted free basketball camps for Georgia youth for 12 years before opening a basketball academy last year in Tbilisi.
In the same area where he once practiced in hat and gloves to combat winter cold, Pachulia now offers kids four courts, among them the same court he played upon in Milwaukee, one he bought in 2013 and had shipped there in 267 pieces and reassembled.
“My goal was motivation,” Pachulia said. “I want the best for all those kids.”
‘Brings that physicality’
Bogut, who suffered a left knee injury for Golden State in game five of last year’s final, nearly wound up in the finals for Cleveland.
After his trade to Dallas, he was traded to Philadelphia and released, then signed by the Cavaliers, only to suffer a broken left leg seconds into his Cleveland debut last March to end his season.
That leaves Canada’s Tristan Thompson to face Pachulia for Cleveland instead of the man that Pachulia replaced.
“Zaza does a lot of the grunt work. He sets good screens, he’s physical, he brings that physicality early in the game for them,” Thompson said. “Their frontcourt got better. They have gotten more athletic. For Zaza, we have to keep him off the glass.”
© Agence France-Presse
