Batman, Robin…and Alfred? Buddy Hield’s Warriors impact goes beyond the 3-point line

The deeper the Warriors’ playoff run goes, the more valuable Buddy Hield becomes.

It’s not just with his 3-point jump shot, but with an everlasting, unwavering personality. 

As the stakes get higher, the games more intense, the days longer, and the legs heavier, Hield’s sense of humor stretches beyond the limits of the hardwood. From the locker room to the team plane to film sessions, Hield’s presence and personality help Golden State. He has impressed the organization all year by walking into the building with a smile and keeping things light through ups and downs. 

Hield’s 17-point Game 3 performance on Saturday was proof. He sank five 3-pointers off the bench and closed against Houston before taking the podium at a postgame press conference with a callback joke ready.

“I knew Robin was out tonight so I had to step up, I had to be Alfred tonight,” Hield said, referencing Jimmy Butler’s running bit of comparing himself and Steph Curry to Robin and Batman. 

Hield knows he isn’t Golden State’s main character, but like Alfred, he’s ready to assist Batman at a moment’s notice.

The journeyman 3-point specialist is the Warriors’ locker room jokester. His nightly back-and-forths with Butler are akin to a standup routine. His quips have earned the admiration of head coach Steve Kerr, who praises the joy and laughter he brings every day. 

“It’s always important,” veteran Kevon Looney told The Standard. “We’ve got a lot of intense guys, and Buddy’s not always just playing around. During a game, when he gets between the lines, he’s locked in. But sometimes when adversity hits and things are tough, you need somebody that you just want to be around. 

“As a team, you’ve got to have that chemistry; we’re together more than we are with our families. So you want to have somebody that’s funny, that has a good time, that’s a joy to be around. You don’t want to be around guys that’s always complaining. He’s always looking at things glass half full.” 

Enter Hield, who calls a jump shot a “blicky” and is as quick with a one-liner as he is releasing a 3-pointer.

Hield’s personality has made him a fast favorite of Kerr, so much so that the legendary coach can rib him in the huddle. Kerr knows as much as Hield jokes around, he can laugh at himself, too. In an early April game, after Hield missed a wide-open Curry with a pass, Kerr called timeout and playfully introduced the two guards — Buddy, that’s Steph Curry… he’s the greatest shooter in the history of the world. 

If Hield had a highlight reel of jokes, most of them would involve Butler.

“He annoys Jimmy, that’s my favorite thing that he does,” Gary Payton II said. “Any way he can. And I love it.” 

Shortly after Butler arrived in the midseason trade, as a media cohort waited in the locker room to chat with him, Hield cosplayed as the All-Star in a press conference. “I got my joy back!” Hield said with a chuckle, referencing Butler’s famous quote during his Miami divorce. 

In another postgame setting, Hield chirped, “Shoot the ball, Jimmy! Shoot the ball, Jimmy! Stop passing the ball.” Butler eventually clapped back that it might be time to buy some boxing gloves and settle their fake beef once and for all. 

After Butler answered questions about his first triple-double as a Warrior, Hield interrupted — “fake ass triple-double!” Butler retorted that Hield doesn’t pass enough to get one for himself. 

Here are some of Hield’s teammates’ best stories and impressions of the comic relief. 

During a film session in the first half of the season, Kerr highlighted a player the Warriors were scouting for. The head coach noted that he’s not a great shooter, but the Warriors still need to close out on him. 

Hield interrupted. 

“No blicky, Steve, he’s got no blicky, Steve,” Green recalled Hield saying. 

At the time, Kerr didn’t know what the word ‘blicky’ meant. He sure did after that. 

“Steve’s like what?” Green said. “We’re all crying laughing. He’s just like ‘Yeah Steve, no blicky.’ No, it’s like a running joke around our team: no blicky, Steve.” 

Every time Hield walks into a room, he greets everybody and uncorks his favorite saying from a Bahamian song. 

“Yes! Yes!,” Payton II said, impersonating Hield’s island accent. “’Yes! Yes!’ It’s good energy, good vibes.” 

“The energy and the presence he has, you know he’s got his Bahamian accent,” Curry said. “You can hear him from a mile away. Any time you come in, he’s got like this little monologue he does when he’s feeling good. It’s like a little bit of a native tongue kind of vibe. He kind of goes and rolls with it, and it’s at a high, high volume. No matter where you’re at, you hear him. We love the consistency, because he’s just having fun, he’s spontaneous, he loves basketball, he works. If it goes his way or not, he’s kind of the same guy.” 

The Warriors won seven of their first eight games with Butler, but back spasms ruled him out for Golden State’s March 1 game in Philadelphia. Even without Butler, the Warriors should’ve handled the lowly Sixers, who finished with 24 wins. Instead, Quentin Grimes went off for 44 points, handing Golden State the loss. 

Two nights later, the Warriors were in Charlotte to get back on track. Butler was cleared to go, and Hield knew it. 

“Coming out to the huddle, we’re doing all our pregame stuff,” Looney said. “He’s like, ‘Jimmy! Our savior’s back!’ It was a joke and it kind of lightened the mood.” 

The “savior” bit became a running joke for Hield, Looney said. It’s just one of many gags between Hield and Butler. 

“Buddy just likes to poke fun at Jimmy,” Looney said. “I don’t think Jimmy’s used to people messing with him. He’s usually the guy who’s messing with people. So to have Buddy mess with him, he takes it on the chin, does it with a smile. Everybody loves Buddy, knows just how good his heart is.” 

Hield is a big donut guy. He found a spot in Sacramento he liked when he played for the Kings and kept the habit going. 

Before every team flight, it’s Spencer’s job to get Hield and the team donuts: all glazed from Golden Gate Donuts in the Tenderloin. 

“Buddy is a team player,” Spencer said. “He takes care of me. Gives me a couple more dollars than I should get for getting donuts. He’s got amazing energy, one of the all-time great teammates.” 

Shooting the ball is therapeutic for Hield. So is even just holding the leather. 

Between stoppages, at practice, during timeouts, Hield always wants to touch the basketball, to feel it in his fingertips. 

The good folks at the NBA security department know that better than anyone.

“All the time,” Ridder said. “Literally, I get a call every night from the NBA a minute into the game: ‘Buddy has the ball on the bench and he has to put it down.’ You’re not allowed to have the ball on the bench (because) if he drops it and it rolls onto the floor and a guy gets hurt.” 

When Ridder gets the call, he has to walk down to the bench and tell Hield to put the ball down.

“He usually does,” Ridder said with a laugh. 

At 32 years old, Hield is a middle man between the veterans on the team — Curry, Butler, and Green — and the young emerging core. 

Podziemski said Hield’s efforts to set things up for the team on the road has helped meld the roster. 

“You can tell the way he was raised, the way he was brought up, family’s a big thing,” Podziemski said. “Being around each other, he really enjoys that.” 

Podziemski likened Hield’s consistent, upbeat attitude to that of Curry. 

“A lot of guys, we say frontrunners — guys who when it’s good, it’s all good, but when it’s bad it’s bad,” Podziemski said. “He’s just always solid and good all the way through. You have that, combined with his kind of lifestyle and how funny he is, it makes for a good combo. I think that’s why all of us enjoy him as a teammate.” 

Hield is often the last player on the court at shootaround. He doesn’t end his sessions until he feels good, and he never gets tired of shooting. 

On the day of Game 2 in Houston, Hield shot corner 3s over and over again, stopping only after he got the exact right swish. He talked to himself in the first person after misses — Come on, Buddy Love. 

A few feet away, the rookie, Post, couldn’t think of an exact favorite story off the top of his head as he watched Hield’s performance. 

“He’s funny as shit, don’t get me wrong,” Post said. “But I love Buddy. Buddy’s funny. He cares. Besides him being funny or whatever, he puts in a lot of hours in the gym, he’s a great teammate. He sets the vibes. He brings energy. It doesn’t matter if he just had the best game of his life or had a game where he played less minutes, it doesn’t matter. If we lost, won, he’s going to bring the same energy.”