Basketball ties aside, Macklin Celebrini focused on hockey as NHL draft’s presumptive No. 1 pick

Having a father working for the Golden State Warriors and former NBA star Steve Nash for an uncle, college hockey player of the year and the presumptive No. 1 NHL draft pick Macklin Celebrin, likes to think he’s got game.

“I think it’s pretty good,” Celebrini said, referring to his basketball ability, before acknowledging his dad, Rick, might be a better judge. “Every time I play and he watches, he says, `I’m a hockey player, playing basketball.’”

Celebrini will even happily admit to his shortcomings, by shaking his head when asked how he’d fare against Steph Curry by saying, “No, I don’t think that would go over very well.”

Curry, Draymond Green and the rest of the NBA can breathe easy.

At just under 6-feet and nearly 200 pounds, Celebrini isn’t about to quit what is projected to be a successful and lucrative pro hockey day job in preparing for the next step in his ascension on Friday, when the first round of the NHL draft opens at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

The San Jose Sharks hold the No. 1 pick and have already indicated their intention to choose the center. Celebrini represents the next major building block for a team that’s gone five seasons without a playoff berth, with the added bonus of a homecoming of sorts.

Though from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Celebrini spent time in the Bay Area, where he played for the Junior Sharks after his father relocated the family in 2018 upon being hired as the Warriors vice president of player health and performance.

It’s the same role Rick Celebrini previously held in Vancouver with the NHL’s Canucks and MLS’s Whitecaps, which provided his son an indelible behind-the-scenes glimpse into pro sports. As much as Celebrini hoped his son would follow in his footsteps by playing soccer, he knew very early on how much hockey meant to Macklin.

“He showed an affinity when he was very, very young,” Celebrini said. “At four- or five-years-old, just the determination and love he had for it, and just the passion. You could see that he was — and I’ve said this a number of times — born to be a hockey player.”

Freshman shines at Boston University

Celebrini is coming off a celebrated freshman season at Boston University, where college hockey’s youngest player last season — he turned 18 earlier this month — finished second in the nation with 32 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games. He became the fourth freshman…