Housen spent the second half in the locker room, where he supervised the caterers who were assembling dinner. He called the hotel in New Orleans with the team’s estimated arrival. He double-checked “out of my own fear and paranoia,” he said, that the team’s breakfast spread would be available until 1 p.m. And he called ahead to the driver of another equipment truck that was set to meet them at the airport in New Orleans.
At 10:56 p.m., about an hour after the Warriors finished off their victory against the Heat, their private plane was rumbling down the runway in Miami. Housen took a seat and sent his daily group text, complete with bus and airplane emojis, that detailed the team’s schedule for the next day. He glanced at his watch and checked his stats: He had walked 13.2 miles and taken 25,347 steps. He was bummed that he had not managed to squeeze in a workout.
When the plane landed in New Orleans, Housen was the first one off. He met an equipment truck that had pulled up to the belly of the plane and began pulling luggage off a conveyor belt.
“Can’t this thing go faster?” he said. “Speed it up!”
After a pair of buses delivered the players and staff to their downtown hotel (12:37 a.m.), Housen headed to the arena, where he spent the next three hours unloading equipment in the visiting locker room. He considered spending what remained of the night on a training table.
“You can make a little bed with some towels,” he said.
But Housen wanted to be back at the hotel so he could check in with the chef before any of the players arrived for breakfast. He was still nervous about breakfast.
“A lot of my job happens,” he said, “when people aren’t there.”
A Grocery Bill for $521.45
On Monday afternoon, before the game against the Pelicans, Housen went grocery shopping, which is something he does each day that the Warriors are on the road.
He filled his cart: sunflower seeds, deodorant, sliced bread, bananas, granola bars, four six-packs of beer, nine bottles of wine. The bill came to $521.45. Housen, who does not consider himself a sommelier, leans on
Stephen Curry and Shaun Livingston for wine expertise. Their rule of thumb: pinot noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons that are a 2012 vintage or older.
“They’re not drinking Keystone,” Housen said.
Housen knows his players’ habits and daily rhythms. He knows, for example, that Thompson will wear the same socks until he puts holes in them, so Housen will preemptively swap them out. He knows that Nick Young wants the insoles removed from his sneakers. He knows that JaVale McGee has the largest feet on the team (size 19). He knows that Curry has a shoe calendar — yes, a shoe calendar, to tell him what sneakers to wear for which game — and Housen knows that because Under Armour sends it straight to him.
He knows that some of the players have discriminating taste when it comes to bottled water, so he stocks the refrigerator in the visiting locker room with three or four brands. He knows that if Ron Adams, the longtime assistant, indulges in an occasional beer on the plane, he likes Peroni. But Housen also knows that Coach Steve Kerr prefers Modelo Especial.
He knows which players want hotel rooms away from the elevators. He knows that McGee is a vegetarian and that Curry avoids gluten. He knows that Zaza Pachulia likes to change into a fresh jersey at halftime. And he knows that Pachulia does not like to leave the arena with damp hair.
“He’s the only guy I’ve ever had who uses a blow dryer,” Housen said.
So Housen tucks one into Pachulia’s locker before every game — and keeps a spare on hand in case the first one breaks.
“I hope that doesn’t make me high maintenance,” Pachulia, the team’s starting center, said, “but I do like to dry my hair.”
Housen has never said no to anyone, he said. And if he cannot fulfill a request, he knows that he at least tried. He recalled how
David Lee, the team’s former power forward, once asked for a helicopter to get home from Oracle Arena after the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge unexpectedly closed. Alas, Housen could not find one on short notice. But it was a rare miss, and one that still seems to bother him.
“I wish I could get them a bucket or a rebound or draw up a play,” Housen said. “But I can’t do any of that, so I try to work as hard as I can for them from here.”
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