Zaza Pachulia returning to Warriors as consultant

One of the Golden State Warriors’ former champions is now back with them.

The Warriors announced on Thursday that veteran big man Zaza Pachulia has returned to the team as a consultant, where he will be helping out on both the business side and the basketball side.

The 35-year-old just completed a 16-year career and appeared in 68 games for the Detroit Pistons last season. He played with the Warriors for two seasons from 2016 to 2018, winning titles with them in both seasons.

Pachulia made headlines for the wrong reasons during his time in Golden State, but now he will have a chance to flip the script in their front office.

Did ex-Warrior Zaza Pachulia troll struggling Klay Thompson?

Did former Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia troll Klay Thompson on Twitter Thursday night? It seems that way.

Thompson has been struggling with his shot and actually seems to be pretty frustrated with questions about it. In Thursday night’s overtime loss against Portland, Klay went 6/19 from the field and 1/4 at the line. He was particularly cold during a stretch in the third quarter, which is when Pachulia sent the following tweet about a hack-a-Klay strategy.

Hack a @KlayThompson

— Zaza Pachulia (@zaza27) December 28, 2018

Who knows to what extent Pachulia was messing around, but there’s little doubt about whether the Warriors miss a player like Zaza. The Warriors are without Damian Jones and still waiting for DeMarcus Cousins to get healthy. They have used Draymond Green at center. They probably wish they had the veteran center back around now.

Zaza Pachulia, David West not expected back with Warriors

The fun may over in Golden State for a pair of veteran big men.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Saturday that versatile stretch forward Jonas Jerebko plans to sign with the Warriors upon clearing waivers.

Forward Jonas Jerebko plans to sign with the Golden State Warriors upon clearing waivers on Monday, league sources tell ESPN. Jerebko has a $4.2M salary that would need to be guaranteed if he's claimed.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2018

Anthony Slater of The Athletic then revealed that Jerebko’s expected arrival virtually guarantees that Zaza Pachulia and David West will not be back.

It was assumed, but the expected agreement with Jonas Jerebko basically puts an end to any thoughts of a reunion with Zaza Pachulia and David West. Roster at 13. McCaw (or another guard/wing) will make 14. That's where they plan to cap roster.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 7, 2018

While JaVale McGee signed with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, the Warriors already brought back Kevon Looney on a one-year minimum deal and, of course, signed DeMarcus Cousins to their one-year midlevel exception.

Pachulia and West were seeing little playing time anyway, and they probably won’t be hanging their heads too much. After all, they got two championship rings each and a fair amount of notoriety out of the ride.

Watch: Zaza Pachulia involved in another questionable incident

Zaza Pachulia played only five minutes in Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Houston Rockets, but it sure looks like he made the most of it.

During the Golden State Warriors’ 127-105 defeat in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, Pachulia was involved in what appeared to be yet another questionable incident. The veteran big entered the game in garbage time and got switched onto Rockets star James Harden on the perimeter during one sequence. Harden stepped back for a three, and Pachulia, as he closed out, seemed to take an extra shuffle towards the MVP frontrunner’s landing feet.

Hold on, did Zaza try it slip his foot under Harden on the shot? pic.twitter.com/vxeYjkKBGw

— Good Takes Pod (@GoodTakesNBAPod) May 17, 2018

Pachulia did not ultimately make any contact, and since the game was already decided, Harden checked out of the contest for the evening just seconds later. Thus, the episode flew largely under the radar. However, Pachulia, of course, has a controversial history when it comes to endangering superstars, so it is probably fair game to scrutinize him a bit for this latest incident.

Spurs fans give Zaza Pachulia harsh treatment

Almost a year has passed since his incident with Kawhi Leonard last postseason, but Zaza Pachulia is still Public Enemy No. 1 in San Antonio.

Pachulia’s Golden State Warriors played the Spurs in San Antonio on Monday, and the seven-footer was given quite the brutal treatment by the home crowd. The Mercury News’ Mark Medina detailed how Spurs fans showered Pachulia with far more than the usual boos, jeering him when he touched the ball and even going so far as to laugh and applaud at his in-game missteps.

Zaza Pachulia gets called for a foul, and Spurs fans erupt in approval as if it were retribution for the Kawhi closeout

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 20, 2018

And now Zaza is booed when he gets the ball, laughed at when he bricks a turnaround

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 20, 2018

It's funny hearing Zaza getting the kind of boos Kobe used to get in San Antonio

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 20, 2018

As hinted at above, Pachulia has been reviled by the San Antonio faithful ever since he appeared to step underneath Spurs star Kawhi Leonard in last year’s Western Conference Finals. It also doesn’t help that Leonard has yet to return to form ever since, be it from that injury or from various others.

Granted, the Spurs got the 89-75 victory over the short-handed Warriors on Monday, and Pachulia finished with a mere six points and three rebounds. That might not be enough to appease the local fans though, as they probably would have preferred for Pachulia to never have been let back into the city.

Zaza Pachulia reportedly will not be punished for fall on Russell Westbrook

Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia will not be disciplined by the NBA for his fall on Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook accused Pachulia of landing on him with intent to injure, which Pachulia has denied. The NBA, it seems, has sided with his view of things.

For those hoping/wondering/expecting the NBA to discipline Zaza Pachulia in the wake of Saturday's incident with Russell Westbrook, I can report the NBA will not be taking any action against him. Pachulia and the Warriors play the Knicks at MSG tonight.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 26, 2018

Ultimately, the NBA likely determined that there was nothing clear enough about the incident to justify taking action. That will come as a major disappointment to some players, who are clearly fed up with Pachulia’s actions.

Kevin Durant does not think Zaza Pachulia intended to hurt Russell Westbrook

Kevin Durant defended teammate Zaza Pachulia, saying he doesn’t think Pachulia intended to hurt Russell Westbrook.

During Saturday’s game between the Warriors and Thunder, Pachulia appeared to fall intentionally on Westbrook while the Thunder guard was on the ground after losing his balance.

Zaza doesn’t belong in this league… he doesn’t need to fall here and he certainly doesn’t have to dive at russ legs pic.twitter.com/WAorx4NFbz

— Kermit (@HeyItsKermit_) February 25, 2018

Pachulia’s landing on Westbrook looked to be unnecessary. Not surprisingly, Westbrook and teammate Paul George felt the dive was intentional.

On Sunday, after looking at replays of the incident, Durant said he didn’t think Pachulia intended to hurt Westbrook.

At Warriors practice in New York, Kevin Durant says he didn't think Zaza Pachulia intended to hurt Russell Westbrook last night and he's glad Westbrook is OK: pic.twitter.com/1PleBvEkxv

— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 26, 2018

Durant may be in the minority on this one. We know how members of the Thunder feel about what Pachulia did. Kyrie Irving went a step further, saying the NBA “has to take a look at this man.”