“Well … Hield sure chose a fantastic time to have the best game of his career,” wrote ‘Golden State of Mind’ reporter Brady Klopfer in the aftermath of Game 7. Klopfer could not be more right, as the player brought in his 33 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists at a time when the Warriors needed it the most. Everyone from Steve Kerr to Jimmy Butler (who enjoys trolling Hield) was in praise of the small forward. Knowing that the Warriors’ season was literally at stake in this one game, Hield came into this game with a new bout of confidence and changed things for the better. How do we know that he was all confident?

Well, it’s because his teammates saw the change in him right from the start, placing him on alert. In the aftermath of the Warriors’ monumental 103-89 win, Draymond Green participated in a presser. When the topic of conversation shifted towards Buddy Hield, the power forward revealed, “Buddy was huge. And it…. ironically, I could see just the way he was walking this morning. Like, the way he was talking. Like, he was so engaged, and he delivered on the biggest stage. Got to give him his credit, it was huge for us”.

Green believed that the matchup, as a whole, was big for the player’s confidence. It put him on alert, and so did his teammates. However, Green also said, “We’re going to need that Buddy to continue on and it won’t be 9, 3s, every night, but just the intensity and focus level that he had, uh, as we get on in these playoffs, it becomes more and more important.”

The ‘confidence walk’ was something that might have crossed everyone’s mind, but the player himself. After all, Buddy Hield recalled doing nothing but just locking himself in, and “just trying to find my joy”. He wanted to seize and relish the moment while enjoying it at the same time. Hield was nervous as anyone else, as he recalled “A lot of nerves at first, though, so I got to like be myself”. However, Hield also recalled that he “told Draymond I’m playing a big game tonight”. Well, maybe that is where the power forward believes the confidence came from.

Not only did the small forward lead on the scoring front, but he was efficient, too. After all, he shot 12-15 (80.0%) field goals and 9-11 (81.8%) 3-pointers. When the offense faltered in the first quarter, Hield carried the offensive front. When the team started to lose momentum, he made a half-court buzzer-beater to end the first quarter. While Stephen Curry was sitting on zero points as the first half started coming to an end, Hield was unstoppable. His 3-pointers allowed Hield to be tied with former Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo for the most triples in a Game 7.

As it turns out, Hield might not have performed as well as he did if the veterans had not given him the required motivation.

Buddy Hield recalled being motivated at “emotional meeting” headed by Stephen Curry and co: “gave everybody chills”

As it turns out, there was a reason why Buddy Hield came into the recent matchup with a different mindset. After the game, the star of the night was interviewed by the crew over at ‘NBA on TNT’. Knowing that the Warriors lost in Game 6 and the Rockets tied the record 3-3, Charles Barkley presumed that the team, as a whole, would have been “shell-shocked”. This led to Hield revealing details of an “emotional meeting” that took place when the team got to Houston.

Led by Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, and Jimmy Butler, whatever was spoken in that meeting got to Hield. “I was just locked in, and, uh, just get my spirit together, and it just like, just the meeting we had, was just like, just gave everybody chills,” he recalled. “And uh, we know when this, when they go to battle, we know what that means, and uh, meeting was well needed”.

Whatever was said may not have been as influential as Al Pacino’s ‘Life is a game of inches’ speech from the 1999 film ‘Any Given Sunday’. Nevertheless, it did the work and brought that side of Buddy Hield out on which everyone is now marvelling. The player made the most points in any game this season, and the most since his 36-point scoring, against the Milwaukee Bucks, back in February 2022. However, as Draymond Green mentioned, the same should not be a one-time thing.

The “intensity and focus level” has been found, and it should not go away in just one game, especially when the Warriors are set to face a dangerous foe like Anthony Edwards and co. The answer to whether Hield listens to the veteran will be answered when the Warriors-Timberwolves Game 1 tips off Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.