The first few days of NBA free agency are a frenzy. Players, team management and agents are constantly on the phone with each other. Social media goes crazy trying to soak up every #WojBomb, meme, rumor and bit of breaking news.
For a lot of non-marquee players, the window to sign with a team can open and close fast. Not answering a call, text, email or message in time could be the difference between a roster spot and millions of dollars and continuing to fish for a job.
But don’t tell that to free agent Willie Cauley-Stein. Because when the Golden State Warriors wanted to offer him a contract, he was fishing for … well, he was fishing.
“The first day (of free agency), I’m sitting there waiting on the top-tier dudes to go,” Cauley-Stein told NBC Sports Bay Area on Tuesday. “I picked up fishing because I was like, ‘I need to do something with this time.’ Sitting there waiting was just so brutal on my mental (health).”
Willie Cauley-Stein with a great story of how he signed with the Warriors ? pic.twitter.com/umI5GlRksr
— Grant Liffmann (@GrantLiffmann) July 9, 2019
So Cauley-Stein headed out to a lake “in the boonies,” where he had no cell service, and when his agent finally got in touch with him, he had to high-tail it back to land and drive two miles down a road to talk to the Warriors’ brass.
“I’m sitting there on the phone and that’s when it’s like, well it’s a clock,” Cauley-Stein said. “Like, if you don’t take this (deal), it’s probably not going to be there in, like, 20 minutes.”
Cauley-Stein ultimately agreed to a two-year, $4.4-million contract with the Warriors, according to The Athletic — interrupting his peaceful offseason, and delaying the possibility of hooking a trophy for his wall, to finalize the deal.
(Photo: The Associated Press)
Now, after averaging 10.1 points and 6.4 rebounds over four seasons with the Sacramento Kings, he’ll join a Warriors team that has reached the NBA Finals in each of the past five years, with three championships.
Maybe Cauley-Stein will celebrate by wetting a line. He just better make sure to tell his agent this time that he’s gone fishing.
Contributing: Tom Schad
Follow David Harten on Twitter @DavidHarten_CJ.