(Las Vegas) Rick Celebrini and his loved ones had to make a decision.

The renowned Vancouver-area athletic therapist, who has worked with Canadian Olympians, NBA All-Star Rick Nash, the Vancouver Canucks and the Vancouver Whitecaps, had to juggle two NBA job offers in 2018.

Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.

Several things had to be taken into account – including hockey.

Macklin Celebrini, the second of four children of Rick and his wife Robyn Celebrini, was a diamond to polish. Would a more lenient environment than that in Canada have an impact on the development of young hockey players?

“We visited San Antonio,” Rick Celebrini recalled. There was no youth hockey league. »

He contacted San Jose Sharks defenseman and former client Brent Burns to ask him about it in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Burns was complimentary of the Sharks’ development program. Celebrini contacted his executives to ensure Macklin could join him.

“It was important that he be challenged,” Rick said. It was a good caliber of play.”

The decision then became much simpler. The Warriors won. The Celebrini family is reportedly moving to California.

Six years later, the Celebrini family will have a front row seat in Las Vegas to see Macklin realize his childhood dream.

The Boston University star center is expected to be selected first overall by his home team, the Sharks, in Friday night’s NHL Draft at Las Vegas.

“I’m nervous, and excited,” Macklin Celebrini said. Emotions are rushing through me. I’m looking forward to it, actually. People tell me, “Enjoy the moment, it only happens once in a lifetime.”

“That’s what I’m going to do,” he added.

Celebrini, who celebrated his 18th birthday earlier this month, became the youngest winner of the Hobey Baker Trophy as the NCAA’s Most Outstanding Player in 2023-24, having scored 32 goals and scored 32 assists in 38 meetings.

“Because of the physical play, the maturity of the players,” explained the six-foot, 190-pound hockey player about the reasons that pushed him to join the NCAA rather than the Canadian Hockey League. The guys are older… There’s not a lot of wiggle room. »

Despite being estranged from his friends in North Vancouver, Celebrini said being around the Warriors has been beneficial.

Not all young people have access to NBA star players such as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on a daily basis.

“They do specific things to prepare themselves, to prepare their bodies,” said Celebrini, who joined Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Sidney Crosby’s alma mater in Minnesota, with his older brother Aiden after a season in the Sharks’ development program.

Macklin and Aiden, his teammate at Boston University and a Canucks draft pick, then began to dabble in professional sports on their own, including hanging out at the Warriors training complex.

“It’s a crucial time in an athlete’s development,” Rick said. This is an incredible opportunity to learn and motivate yourself. »

The rest is history. And a new chapter in Macklin Celebrini’s career will be written starting Friday evening in Las Vegas.