Don't mess with the Warriors and their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The Wall Street Journal documents the internal struggle between the NBA's best team and the training staff to have their beloved PB&Js reinstated as an acceptable snack during team flights following a frustrating and perplexing ban.
While most Americans might take for granted their right to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich whenever they like, in an effort to have the squad eating healthier during their title defense, "Golden State's training staff all but eliminated sugar on the team’s private plane this season." Things like cookies, soda, and candy were given the boot. And since jelly has plenty of sugar, it too was banned, much to the Warriors' surprise.
The Warriors are unlike most NBA teams in many ways, but there’s nothing exceptional about their consumption of PB&Js. On the training table in their locker room before their games are all the standard ingredients: bags of whole wheat and 12-grain bread, a can of Smuckers strawberry jam, a jar of extra crunchy peanut butter and a bigger jar of creamy peanut butter. The Warriors, for the record, are a Skippy team.
The ban, despite it's good intentions, didn't sit well with many of the players and assistant coach Luke Walton was among its most vocal opponents.
“You gotta fight for your rights,” Walton told WSJ. “If you believe in something you gotta fight for it.”
After enough protesting, the training staff recently acquiesced and allowed the snack on flights. But as for who should get credit for the sandwich's reinstatement, that remains a mystery. “Somebody made a call,” Livingston said. “Probably Steph.”
When the reigning NBA MVP is on your roster and he's torching defenses every single night, leading the team to the best start in NBA history, can you really deny him one of his favorite snacks? It might not be their secret to success, but why mess with something when it's working?
“Steph likes peanut butter and jelly,” Andre Iguodala said, “so we’re gonna let that slide.”
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