Jose Calderon was a member of the Golden State Warriors for less than two hours on Wednesday. He will collect north of $400,000 for his brief stint with a team he will never suit up for.
It’s an interesting story.
Golden State committed to signing Calderon after the Los Angeles Lakers waived him earlier in the week. But once Calderon cleared waivers, the Warriors found themselves in a quandary. Star forward Kevin Durant suffered a sprained MCL in the team’s loss to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. This forced the Warriors to change plans big time.
With Durant out of action at least four weeks, the two-time defending Western Conference champs decided to sign wing Matt Barnes instead of Calderon.
But to make good on their promise to the veteran point guard and guarantee him the money he would have earned on a new deal, the Warriors signed him.
Warriors sign guard José Calderón: pic.twitter.com/SnH5CKXdW0
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) March 1, 2017
Within two hours, they would waive Calderon in order to bring Barnes into the mix.
Warriors waive guard José Calderón: pic.twitter.com/clT9Mp2Y4n
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) March 2, 2017
Intriguing, right?
Well, apparently someone within the Warriors’ locker room decided to have some fun.
Warriors sign Matt Barnes, waive Jose Calderon. But there was still this jersey outside of the visiting locker room in Chicago: pic.twitter.com/EKUFUlMUZM
— Mike Singer (@msinger) March 2, 2017
Yes, that’s a Calderon jersey in the visiting locker room in Chicago, where the Warriors are slated to play the Bulls Thursday night.
It might be a waste of time and money, but we now have a rare collectible on our hands. We’re definitely going to check out the value of these awesome jerseys.
Heck, this one scribe might reach out and purchase one. Talk about a conversation starter.