Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the NBA offseason and beyond
The big call came last March when she was at work in Toronto. And like in any other office, her coworkers were elated to hear the news.
Danielle Langford, the Warriors’ manager of player rehabilitation, was selected to the British Columbia Basketball Hall of Fame for her esteemed playing career in the Vancouver area. Her coworkers, Draymond Green, Chris Paul and Kevon Looney, were ecstatic.
“They started all quizzing me about my stats and whatnot,” Langford told this news organization. “I don’t know that stuff very well, to be honest. And they were like, ‘How do you not know?’ So they started looking stuff up. They were pumped, they were happy for me.”
Langford’s accomplishments, they’d discover with some internet sleuthing, are vast. When Langford was in her playing prime, she was like the female Canadian Steph Curry.
At Simon Fraser University, she still has the school record for 3-pointers made (388) — 119 more than second place. As team captain, she led two separate SFU teams, in 2002 and 2005, to undefeated national championship seasons. She was named tournament MVP in 2005 and ranks third in school history in total assists.
“She was an excellent leader,” said Langford’s SFU teammate, Laura van den Boogaard. “Everything was about winning, but in a way that made everyone feel included. She was a shooter, she could drive, she could pass. She could do everything, but she made everyone better. She was that person that would get you the ball exactly where you needed it to make the shot.”
Langford played for her dad, Bruce, at Simon Fraser, whom she joined in the BC Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday. Her uncle, Paul, also got inducted on Saturday as a coach.
In 2000, before college, Langford led Heritage Park Secondary School to the provincial championship and played for the junior national team.
“She was not a 4.4-40, incredible athlete who could bowl people out of the gym with her athleticism,” said Howard Tsumura, a journalist in the area who covered Langford’s career. “But I don’t think anybody got more out of what they were given to play on a basketball court than Dani did.”
It all feels like a “lifetime ago,” Langford said.
Entering her fourth season with the Warriors, Langford’s competitive playing days are far behind her, but they help her relate and understand the Warriors she works with. Langford still gets shots up in the Warriors’ facility early in the mornings for exercise, routine and discipline.
“I feel most like myself when basketball’s around me,” Langford said. “Being in a gym is calming, shooting is calming yet energizing, and watching a game is familiar and fun. And talking basketball to this day is something I love to do as I can have conversations from many angles, from a physiotherapist watching how athletes move, to talking with coaches about plays, to players about what decisions they make and why.”
Langford’s younger daughter, 8-year-old Maddie, is into basketball and shoots around …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
