Chris Chiozza And Nemanja Bjelica knew the reason for their coming to San Francisco, from Atlanta for one and Belgrade for the other, they who had not yet received their NBA championship rings after taking part in the victorious season of the Warriors in 2021/22 . What they didn’t know, however, was when the surprise would come.
It was during a meeting with children participating in the “Warriors Youth Basketball Camp” organized by the franchise that the two players finally received their due, when young Vanessa Lewis, 11, asked them if they had already seen their champion rings, in a perfectly orchestrated staging.
A ceremony in a unique setting
That’s when the two boxes appeared on the floor. A moment of happiness that Chris Chiozza and Nemanja Bjelica savored at its true value, in an intimate atmosphere.
“I didn’t realize it would be so important. Probably in a few years I will realize it better”, said the Serbianwho also said ” very grateful “ for having been able to evolve alongside the Curry-Thompson-Green trio. “It has been amazing to share the locker room with this group of people. There was a great friendship between everyone. It was all about the team and what we could achieve as a group”.
The two players no longer played in the NBA following the title won by Golden State in 2022, and had therefore not yet been granted this special attention.
And since they are now playing in Europe and will not have the opportunity to travel to the United States during the regular season, the Warriors had therefore opted for this unique but no less warm setting.
Now 35, Nemanja Bjelica, who took part in the entire regular season and the playoffs, notably coming into play in five of the six games in the final won against Boston, has spent the entire season at Fenerbahçe, where he is still under contract next season. He has only played a few games in 2022/23 due to injuries, notably to the calf.
Chris Chiozza, who had played 34 regular season games with the Warriors that season, for his part branched off to the G-League, at the Long Island Nets (12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists on average over 44 games) before to finish the season in Spain, in Murcia (9.9 points, 5.4 assists on average over 8 games).
