You can take away all of their sugary treats in the name of team health, but you cannot take away their beloved peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. And that’s exactly what happened to the 44-4 Golden St. Warriors.
It all started during the offseason when the team brought in a new strength and conditioning coach who made the decision tweak the team’s in-flight menu in the name of health, and one of the items lifted as a result of the health-conscious tweaks were peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.
The deflating change and subsequent reaction from PB&J loyalist, Luke Walton, might be the finest moment of his NBA career. From the WSJ:
“You gotta fight for your rights. If you believe in something you gotta fight for it.”
If we didn’t already know Walton was discussing peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, you’d think he was referring to some new tax hike. Or a wrongful arrest at a protest. But no, we’re talking about peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.
Walton was so annoyed he apparently bothered the living hell out of anyone who would listen, from strength coach Lachlan Penfold to the innocent flight attendants, saying he “stuck to his guns.” Walton seemingly had the ear of everyone on the team plane, except for maybe the pilots.
And it wasn’t just Walton. GM Bob Myers was also perturbed by the move and so were the players. But I’m happy to report that those delectable PB&Js have miraculously returned to the team menu, which is shocking since Steph Curry happens to love those sandwiches.
As Shaun Livingston put it, “somebody made a call, probably Steph.” And as Andre Iguodala bluntly put it, “Steph likes peanut butter and jelly, so we’re gonna let that slide.”
Still, Luke Walton deserves major credit for getting the PB&J buzz swirling enough to the point it had everyone on edge, forcing his staunch sandwich demands to ultimately be met.
[H/T BSO]