Jordan Bell, (left) and Zaza Pachulia at the Warriors practice facility in Oakland, Calif., on Fri. Feb. 23, 2018.
Jordan Bell, (left) and Zaza Pachulia at the Warriors practice facility in Oakland, Calif., on Fri. Feb. 23, 2018.
Photo: Michael Macor, The ChronicleGolden State Warriors' Zaza Pachulia dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Golden State Warriors' Zaza Pachulia dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated PressBefore Warriors practice Wednesday evening, head coach Steve Kerr sat center Zaza Pachulia down and told him the news: The next night, when Golden State hosted the Clippers, Pachulia would come off the bench for the first time since joining the Warriors in July 2016.
It was a tough blow for a player who had come to embrace his role as the fifth starter on a team loaded with four All-Stars. But during that two-minute conversation at Golden State’s practice facility, as Kerr explained his lineup switch, Pachulia held in his disappointment.
“As a competitor, you want to be a starter,” Pachulia said Saturday. “But at the same time, I’ve always been a team player. I can’t think about it individually.”
During his 15 years in the NBA, Pachulia has built a reputation as a consummate professional. Now, in the wake of his most high-profile demotion to date, Pachulia is reinforcing why Kerr was so pleased he re-signed with Golden State last summer: Though his resolve is being tested, Pachulia is not letting his frustration spill into the locker room.
In Saturday night’s 112-80 win over Oklahoma City, he was a steadying force against Thunder center Steven Adams, boxing out one of the league’s best offensive rebounders and setting textbook screens to free up teammates. Though Pachulia only tallied four points, six rebounds and two assists, he also posted a plus-minus of plus-27 in 19 minutes. JaVale McGee, who had supplanted him in the starting lineup two days earlier, was a minus-10 in 10 minutes.
“Zaza, he’s part of our moral compass on this team,” Kerr said. “He’s the ultimate pro. No matter what role you give him, you know he’s going to work. You know he’s going to support his teammates. You know he’s part of trying to win. We’re lucky to have him, and I’m lucky to coach him.”
Pachulia can keep perspective about not starting because he has endured far worse. He learned basketball in a windowless gym in Tbilisi, Georgia, with no heater and practiced in the winter wearing a hat and gloves. His father, Davit, died of a heart attack when Zaza was 15.
Four years later, after briefly considering quitting his club team in Turkey to help his grieving mother, Pachulia went to the Orlando Magic with the 42nd pick of the 2003 NBA Draft. A player long praised by teammates for his selfless, caring approach has repeatedly been at the center of on-court controversies.
Last May, after Pachulia’s closeout on a Kawhi Leonard jump shot in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals injured the then-MVP candidate, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich called Pachulia’s play “dangerous and unsportsmanlike.” The backlash against Pachulia was so severe that he had security guards deployed to the entrance of his children’s school in the Bay Area as a precaution.
In the third quarter of Saturday’s win over the Thunder, after Russell Westbrook collided with Nick Young and crumpled to the floor, Pachulia — who was near the play, but not necessarily involved in the collision — fell on Westbrook, grabbing the reigning MVP’s leg before standing up. Westbrook later accused Pachulia of intentionally trying to hurt him.
It all has left many to view Pachulia as a lumbering, slow-footed brute who has carved out a long career on dirty plays. Such a stereotype is in stark contrast, however, to the soft-spoken intellectual Warriors players have come to see as a role model.
“He’s all for the team,” Klay Thompson said. “That’s what it takes to win championships. You can’t just have an individual agenda.”
After poring over team analytics over the All-Star break, Kerr knew he needed to shake up his starting lineup. Golden State’s defensive rating in the first five minutes was significantly worse than it was last season despite featuring the same five-man unit.
Though Pachulia had been providing the nuances — screens, pinpoint passes, solid positional defense — that are fundamental to his job, he was the only player Kerr could reasonably move out of the starting lineup. The hope was that McGee’s speed, energy and shot-blocking ability would offer a much-needed jolt to a group that has been far less productive than its pedigree would suggest is possible.
The new-look starting lineup’s two-game sample size has been mixed. With 22 games left until the playoffs, Kerr is open to changing his center rotation night-to-night based on matchups.
“It was tough to hear when Steve told me about the change,” Pachulia said. “But I can’t control the minutes, the position, when I’m going to play. I can only be mindful of things I can control: Being a pro, and working hard.”
Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron
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