Santos provides Warriors with energy that embodies all of Brazil originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Gui Santos’ first view of Chase Center was a sea of yellow shirts covering seats all throughout the stands.
It was the 2022 NBA Finals and Santos was going through his pre-draft workout down below on the Warriors’ practice court prior to one of their games against the Boston Celtics. Winning was what the Warriors were known for, even in Brazil. The sight of those bright shirts to create a home-court advantage wasn’t as eye-opening for Santos as it is now that he can reflect on the moment. From the outside, everything felt routine.
“I didn’t have the understanding of how big and how hard it is to get there, because Golden State always was in the Finals the last couple years,” Santos says to NBC Sports Bay Area. “I was like, ‘OK, maybe that’s normal for them.’ But then when I got here the season after they were champions, I saw how hard it is to make the Finals, how hard it is to go to the playoffs. But to make the Finals, it’s even tougher.
“Now I know why they got so much respect in the whole league, and now I want to be part of that for sure.”
Just one week after winning their fourth championship in eight years, the Warriors were on the clock and used three draft picks, first taking Patrick Baldwin Jr. with the 28th overall pick and then trading up to select Ryan Rollins in the second round (No. 44 overall). With a third pick at their disposal, the Warriors went the developmental route and added Santos as the third-to-last pick in the draft.
Everything was foreign territory for someone who was 20 years old one day before the draft. Santos was stepping into a team full of stars celebrating another championship. Patience wasn’t an option. Feeling forgotten would have been easy. Luckily for Santos, he had a north star to guide his leap to Golden State.
Former Warriors champion Leandro Barbosa was a longtime mentor of Santos in Brazil, even serving as his veteran teammate for Brazilian club Minas when he still led the league in scoring at 37 years old in the 2019-20 season. He posted a picture to his Instagram story of Santos after his pre-draft workout as the Warriors were on their way to getting fitted for rings, and having his idol around him for the draft process slowed everything down for Santos.
Barbosa then left his post on the Warriors’ coaching staff two months later to follow Mike Brown to the Sacramento Kings for a larger role. Santos now finds himself as the one and only current NBA player born in Brazil.
The honor can be a blessing and a curse. As Santos’ star has shined brighter the longer the Warriors’ season has gone on, he has been an advocate of Brazilian basketball and the talent the country can produce. Representing all of Brazil for the most internationally known NBA team also is pressure unknown to almost anybody else.
“It’s amazing,” Santos says. “Especially being the only one right here, right now, and having all the attention from everybody. It’s good when you’re playing well, but it’s tough when you’re not playing well.”
Santos has heard it all from outsiders, telling him to shoot more and be more of a scorer, without understanding the importance of what he does for a team led by Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
The positivity, Santos says, far outweighs any negativity.
“I’m very, very happy, very proud of that, because the biggest part of Brazil is cheering for me, sending good vibes,” he continues. “I love that. Everything I do, I try to mention Brazil because that’s where I grew up, that’s where I was born, that’s where I learned everything.”
Santos spent his entire first season playing in Santa Cruz for the Warriors’ G League affiliate, refining his body and basketball skills as he learned to play within Golden State’s system. He only played 23 games for the Warriors last season, averaging 8.3 minutes. His contract wasn’t even guaranteed going into this season, and he played another five games for Santa Cruz, but none since Dec. 15, 2024.
That’s the kind of winning impact Santos has had on Golden State with more opportunities.
Though Santos ranks 17th in points per game (4.1) among those who have played for the Warriors this season, he has become one of their most trusted players. Santos played in 56 of the Warriors’ 82 regular-season games, yet still ranked fifth on the team in cumulative plus/minus (165) behind only Curry, Green, Brandin Podziemski and Butler – in that order. Steve Kerr, for months now has mentioned Santos’ plus/minus numbers multiple times.
But with the Warriors’ playoff hopes on the line, Kerr didn’t play Santos against the LA Clippers in the regular-season finale, a loss that dropped them to the play-in tournament. Unprompted ahead of their play-in tournament game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Kerr admitted the Warriors missed Santos’ presence on the court. In the locker room, Santos was the same as he always is.
Jovial. Upbeat. Impossible to wipe the smile off his face. Santos puts in his blue earbuds, cranks up his Brazilian funk music and finds a zone only he can tap into.
“It’s to get into the mood for the game,” Santos explains. “It’s not slow. It’s very fast. I put it on before the game to get ready to go out there and bring some energy.”
Which is exactly what Santos does once his foot crosses the line and it’s his time to bring the home crowd to life. Whenever Santos enters a game, he challenges himself to grab two offensive rebounds. He came down with three in the six minutes he played to help push the Warriors back into the playoffs against the Houston Rockets.
“Our points per possession when we get offensive rebounds is through the roof,” Podziemski says. “Any extra possession we get, it’s going to benefit us, especially against a defensive team like Houston.”
On the Warriors’ first offensive possession with Santos on the floor against the Grizzlies, he misses a 3-pointer from the left corner. But the next time down, Butler misses from the right wing, only to see Santos soar to secure a rebound over Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. His elbows go flying to clear space and throw the ball to Kevon Looney at the top of the arc. What Santos does next is the second phase of why Kerr knows the game flows with him on the court.
After Santos keeps the play alive, the ball gets swung back to Butler. Santos backpedals a few steps and goes unnoticed before cutting to the basket, catching Butler’s entry pass, flipping his hips and making a contested layup through Jackson and Desmond Bane for a three-point play that gave Golden State a 13-point lead in the second quarter.
His right hand punches through the arena air, and Santos’ lion’s roar matches the volume vibrating through Warriors fans.
“Me and Gui, we’re international,” Quinten Post says. “Different upbringing. You need it. Me and Gui, maybe we don’t have that swagger, but we’re just raw energy out there. I think you need that. For Gui, sometimes it’s shorter stints. The way he came in against Memphis and grabbed offensive rebounds, those weren’t rebounds that belonged to him, but he just forced his way in there.
“It’s important to have some guys who play with emotion and get the crowd going.”
There’s the way his curls flop over a headband like Anderson Varejao, and the spirits he plays with that match Brazil’s samba music. Gui Santos brings every ounce of energy he has every day to the Warriors and Dub Nation, embodying all of Brazil.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
Santos provides Warriors with energy that embodies all of Brazil
SAN FRANCISCO – Gui Santos’ first view of Chase Center was a sea of yellow shirts covering seats all throughout the stands.
It was the 2022 NBA Finals and Santos was going through his pre-draft workout down below on the Warriors’ practice court prior to one of their games against the Boston Celtics. Winning was what the Warriors were known for, even in Brazil. The sight of those bright shirts to create a home-court advantage wasn’t as eye-opening for Santos as it is now that he can reflect on the moment. From the outside, everything felt routine.
“I didn’t have the understanding of how big and how hard it is to get there, because Golden State always was in the Finals the last couple years,” Santos says to NBC Sports Bay Area. “I was like, ‘OK, maybe that’s normal for them.’ But then when I got here the season after they were champions, I saw how hard it is to make the Finals, how hard it is to go to the playoffs. But to make the Finals, it’s even tougher.
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“Now I know why they got so much respect in the whole league, and now I want to be part of that for sure.”
Just one week after winning their fourth championship in eight years, the Warriors were on the clock and used three draft picks, first taking Patrick Baldwin Jr. with the 28th overall pick and then trading up to select Ryan Rollins in the second round (No. 44 overall). With a third pick at their disposal, the Warriors went the developmental route and added Santos as the third-to-last pick in the draft.
Everything was foreign territory for someone who was 20 years old one day before the draft. Santos was stepping into a team full of stars celebrating another championship. Patience wasn’t an option. Feeling forgotten would have been easy. Luckily for Santos, he had a north star to guide his leap to Golden State.
Former Warriors champion Leandro Barbosa was a longtime mentor of Santos in Brazil, even serving as his veteran teammate for Brazilian club Minas when he still led the league in scoring at 37 years old in the 2019-20 season. He posted a picture to his Instagram story of Santos after his pre-draft workout as the Warriors were on their way to getting fitted for rings, and having his idol around him for the draft process slowed everything down for Santos.
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Barbosa then left his post on the Warriors’ coaching staff two months later to follow Mike Brown to the Sacramento Kings for a larger role. Santos now finds himself as the one and only current NBA player born in Brazil.
The honor can be a blessing and a curse. As Santos’ star has shined brighter the longer the Warriors’ season has gone on, he has been an advocate of Brazilian basketball and the talent the country can produce. Representing all of Brazil for the most internationally known NBA team also is pressure unknown to almost anybody else.
“It’s amazing,” Santos says. “Especially being the only one right here, right now, and having all the attention from everybody. It’s good when you’re playing well, but it’s tough when you’re not playing well.”
Santos has heard it all from outsiders, telling him to shoot more and be more of a scorer, without understanding the importance of what he does for a team led by Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
The positivity, Santos says, far outweighs any negativity.
“I’m very, very happy, very proud of that, because the biggest part of Brazil is cheering for me, sending good vibes,” he continues. “I love that. Everything I do, I try to mention Brazil because that’s where I grew up, that’s where I was born, that’s where I learned everything.”
Santos spent his entire first season playing in Santa Cruz for the Warriors’ G League affiliate, refining his body and basketball skills as he learned to play within Golden State’s system. He only played 23 games for the Warriors last season, averaging 8.3 minutes. His contract wasn’t even guaranteed going into this season, and he played another five games for Santa Cruz, but none since Dec. 15, 2024.
That’s the kind of winning impact Santos has had on Golden State with more opportunities.
Though Santos ranks 17th in points per game (4.1) among those who have played for the Warriors this season, he has become one of their most trusted players. Santos played in 56 of the Warriors’ 82 regular-season games, yet still ranked fifth on the team in cumulative plus/minus (165) behind only Curry, Green, Brandin Podziemski and Butler – in that order. Steve Kerr, for months no,w has mentioned Santos’ plus/minus numbers multiple times.
But with the Warriors’ playoff hopes on the line, Kerr didn’t play Santos against the LA Clippers in the regular-season finale, a loss that dropped them to the play-in tournament. Unprompted ahead of their play-in tournament game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Kerr admitted the Warriors missed Santos’ presence on the court. In the locker room, Santos was the same as he always is.
Jovial. Upbeat. Impossible to wipe the smile off his face. Santos puts in his blue earbuds, cranks up his Brazilian funk music and finds a zone only he can tap into.
“It’s to get into the mood for the game,” Santos explains. “It’s not slow. It’s very fast. I put it on before the game to get ready to go out there and bring some energy.”
Which is exactly what Santos does once his foot crosses the line and it’s his time to bring the home crowd to life. Whenever Santos enters a game, he challenges himself to grab two offensive rebounds. He came down with three in the six minutes he played to help push the Warriors back into the playoffs against the Houston Rockets.
“Our points per possession when we get offensive rebounds is through the roof,” Podziemski says. “Any extra possession we get, it’s going to benefit us, especially against a defensive team like Houston.”
On the Warriors’ first offensive possession with Santos on the floor against the Grizzlies, he misses a 3-pointer from the left corner. But the next time down, Butler misses from the right wing, only to see Santos soar to secure a rebound over Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. His elbows go flying to clear space and throw the ball to Kevon Looney at the top of the arc. What Santos does next is the second phase of why Kerr knows the game flows with him on the court.
After Santos keeps the play alive, the ball gets swung back to Butler. Santos backpedals a few steps and goes unnoticed before cutting to the basket, catching Butler’s entry pass, flipping his hips and making a contested layup through Jackson and Desmond Bane for a three-point play that gave Golden State a 13-point lead in the second quarter.
His right hand punches through the arena air, and Santos’ lion’s roar matches the volume vibrating through Warriors fans.
“Me and Gui, we’re international,” Quinten Post says. “Different upbringing. You need it. Me and Gui, maybe we don’t have that swagger, but we’re just raw energy out there. I think you need that. For Gui, sometimes it’s shorter stints. The way he came in against Memphis and grabbed offensive rebounds, those weren’t rebounds that belonged to him, but he just forced his way in there.
“It’s important to have some guys who play with emotion and get the crowd going.”
There’s the way his curls flop over a headband like Anderson Varejao, and the spirits he plays with that match Brazil’s samba music. Gui Santos brings every ounce of energy he has every day to the Warriors and Dub Nation, embodying all of Brazil.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
