“It was special,” Richard said before Tuesday’s game. “I haven’t seen (Golden) in a minute, a few months, it was good to see him. Coach (Carlin) Hartman kind of took me under his wing. They both poured a lot into me in Florida, so it was special to have them here.”
After being introduced by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Golden gave a short speech to the Warriors about how much Richard meant to the Florida program, especially in the win over the Houston Cougars in the National Championship game. After being forced to give a speech by his new teammates, Richard, who was sitting next to another Florida alum, Al Horford, put on his ring.
“I appreciate all of you,” Richard told his teammates in a video released by the Warriors. “I won one in college. I’m looking forward to winning one here. So let’s do it.”
It was a moment that resonated for the rest of the veteran group; they appreciate the way Richard plays and the way he behaves. The Warriors acquired him via trade at the end of the second round of the 2025 Draft.
“That was cool,” Warriors superstar Stephen Curry said of the ceremony. “To hear (Golden) talk about Will, his character, we’ve been able to see it since he’s been with us, but you could tell it came from the heart and he was super appreciative of what Will did for their program while he was there… to win a championship, you rely on high quality, high character guys who can also hoop and it’s cool to see that interaction and Will gets that honor.
Richard has quickly found himself in the starting line-up and has become a favorite of Kerr’s in his short time with the Warriors. He had six points and two assists in 15 minutes during Tuesday’s 113-121 loss to the Magic. Kerr called the small ring ceremony “amazing.”
“We were able to surprise Will,” Kerr said. “And Todd presented him with his championship ring and Will was just great. The guys gave him a good ovation. He’s a great young guy and it was nice to be able to celebrate his achievement and the Gators’ achievement, with Al there and coach Golden there. It was a really nice moment.”
It was a moment that Horford, who won back-to-back championships at Florida in 2006 and 2007, also relished. Horford called the experience a “full circle moment” and was glad all the pieces of the schedule came together, giving Richard a chance to celebrate with his teammates. Golden drove from Gainesville prior to Tuesday’s practice so he could share the moment with Richard. Horford said Richard had been showing him the design of the ring for several weeks before receiving the real thing on Tuesday.
“He kind of let us know that Will was his first guy,” Horford said. “And they found everything else and found a lot of guys to put it all together, but it was a pretty special moment.”
Richard recently said his Warriors teammates called him “Baby Gator” in honor of his ties to Florida and the fact that he is now professional teammates at Horford. Richard enjoys being one of the standard bearers for a new era of Gator players in the NBA.
“That’s something that will always be a part of us,” Richard said. “What we learned there and what we did in Florida is something that you can take to the next level and that just helps teams win and do it at a high level. So I feel like that’s a chip that we both carry and it means a lot to us to be able to represent Florida.”
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