Donte DiVincenzo has had the privilege to conquer two NBA championships with two different franchises during his relatively young basketball career, as he has been led by incredible players to the top. The first was in Milwaukee back in 2021, and only a year later he reached the same heights in Golden State.
According to the Wolves guard, who was traded out from New York during the summer, his career saw an incredible shift in mentality when he first landed in California and witnessed his first training sessions with the Warriors. He mostly credits this experience to Stephen Curry and the culture he’s helped build within the club.
In a recent appearance on The Old Man and The Three podcast, Donte shared details over how his days in Golden State completely reshaped his career. “I took that year to rebalance and revive what I thought I could be, and I don’t think I could have gone to a better place to do that,” he recalled. “Playing with those dudes just completely changed my mindset of basketball.”
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“I think there’s certain organizations that you can just go to and play a certain style that makes guys look really good,” DiVincenzo further elaborated on the Warriors’ impact. “And I think Golden State is that. If you can flourish in that kind of chaos of what they do – I got so many open looks that I never thought I would get.”
The 27-year-old then spoke about Curry’s incredible work ethic, and how his approach to the game inspired him. “He came ready to work every single day, and the amount of shots he took, and [his attention to] detail. There was never a day off for that guy,” the guard shared. “That year really changed everything about how I approach practice.”
The former Villanova star also mentioned how important it was for him to be mentored by so many veterans in the Golden State locker room. “It’s also the accountability of a lot of the guys within these organizations that either played there or have been around that coach in years prior,” Donte explained.
“You go to Golden State – Shaun Livingston was out there. He was in the front office at the time, but he was a huge voice for a lot of us,” the Minnesota player added. “And you had Andre Iguodala. Andre was still playing, but he was a coach at that point. He’s a legend. He was the voice.”
The new Timberwolves star also reflected on how Curry and Klay Thompson taught him the importance of movement in basketball
After enduring his first preseason in Minnesota, Donte also addressed the everlasting impact he received in Golden State during his last interviews before the start of the current 2024-25 campaign. The 27-year-old explained how he modelled his game over the teachings he learned from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
“Just being with Steph, being with Klay, just the non-stop moving. What I picked up is the moving of the whole 24 seconds,” DiVincenzo explained about the importance of constant movement in basketball, which nowadays is seen as a hallmark of the Warriors’ offensive system.
He continued: “Never standing still, because when you’re standing still, the defense is resting when you’re not moving around. They’re going to mess up at some point. It might be within the first five, six, seven seconds of a clock, or it might be the last two or three seconds.”
He has participated in 17 games for the Timberwolves so far this season, earning a spot in the starting lineup in most games. After producing an average of 25.9 minutes per game, he has also averaged 9.2 points, 3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per match.
