STEVE KERR WAS SITTING in his Vancouver hotel room pining for one of his players during the Golden State Warriors’ preseason trip to Canada in 2016.
He called assistant Chris DeMarco into his room, and the two sat down and talked about their then-second-year center, Kevon Looney.
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“I don’t know if he’s going to make it in the league,” Kerr told ESPN, recalling the conversation.
Repeating that sentence out loud hurt Kerr. He was a longtime Looney defender since the Warriors drafted him 30th overall out of UCLA in 2015.
The team declined to exercise Looney’s fourth-year option prior to the 2017–18 season, making him an unrestricted free agent the following summer.
Given Looney’s injury history (he only played five games in his rookie season and 53 in his sophomore year) and the fact that he couldn’t play more than 20 minutes a game and was limited in practice due to hip surgery , Kerr had to ponder the big man’s place in the team.
That conversation, those thoughts, now seem far away to Kerr. And even incredible to accept, considering how crucial Looney has been to the Warriors, especially this season.
Now healthy, Looney is a two-time iron man, having played in all 82 games in consecutive seasons. He is the third player in franchise history to grab at least 20 rebounds in multiple games in the same playoff series. He also found his voice to become a leader off the court. He is the ultimate Golden State X factor.
“I think Loon [Looney] he’s one of the best centers in the league,” Kerr said after Game 7 of the Warriors’ first-round series against the Sacramento Kings. “I really think so. People don’t recognize him because he’s not shooting and shooting 3-pointers and all that. But this guy is a winner and he is a machine.”
ALMOST TWO YEARS After Kerr and DeMarco discussed Looney’s future, the Warriors found themselves in the 2018 Western Conference finals against the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets, a small-ball team led by James Harden and Chris Paul, thought Looney was a center they could trade to their point guards and offensive guards. But what happened was the opposite.
Six minutes into the first quarter of Game 1, Looney switched to defending Harden. Harden stood just outside the 3-point line, flicking the ball between his legs, sizing up Looney and figuring out where he could outrun him. Harden took a step forward before quickly backing up. He passed the ball but immediately recovered it. He tried again to outrun Looney. But once again, Harden had nowhere to go, as Looney followed his every move and made sure his hand was on Harden’s face when he hit a 3-pointer.
This moment, and the series in general, finally showed just how successful Looney could be for the Golden State.
Looney came off the bench for the first two games of the series, but after Andre Iguodala injured his knee, Looney moved into the starting lineup. In Game 4, he was traded over to Paul. Like Harden, Paul tried to dance around Looney to the hoop. Like Harden, Paul was unsuccessful. Everything had clicked.
“We finally realized, ‘My God, he can change [en defensa]'” Kerr said. “That was the first time I was like, ‘Oh wait, now we see something.’ We already have all these other players who can switch. So you put him on the 5 and he can switch on a base or shooting guard: he’s got that great body that fights for rebounds, now there’s a spot.”
That “aha” moment was one Looney worked on for years.
“They tested me at the highest levels of the biggest series,” Looney told ESPN. “I gained a lot of confidence in myself in that series, and I think my teammates and staff did as well.”
A large part of the Warriors’ confidence in Looney stems from his willingness to be low-maintenance on a team full of big personalities, do the dirty work and be flexible with what is asked of him.
“When you’re part of a team and you’re seeing guys sacrifice and do everything they can to win, and it’s not just the players at the end of the bench but also the stars, you align,” Looney said. “Your ego doesn’t matter. My first two years, I was hurt. I didn’t even play. So I just watched what it took to be a championship team. I learned that if Steph [Curry] He’s making sacrifices, my little ego doesn’t matter here. I learned it early and stuck with it.”
The Warriors are famous for their small-ball lineups and elite shooters, which is why Looney has been nicknamed the rebounder: their one true center who clogs the paint and catches any loose ball with his 6-foot-9 frame and 7-foot wingspan. feet 4 inches.
His rebounding has increased steadily over the past two seasons, but it’s not a newly learned skill set. Upon entering the league, Looney saw it as the best trait in him. He studied video with DeMarco on how to anticipate where the ball was going to bounce and, more importantly, how to get Curry and Klay Thompson out.
“Loon, more than anything, understood that these are the things that I need to do to help this team win,” DeMarco told ESPN. “Creating more chances for Steph and Klay will get me minutes. Sounds simple, but it’s really hard to do… With Steph, his shooting is his elite skill. The same goes for rebounding and Loon. It’s his elite skill.” .
In the Warriors’ first-round series against the Sacramento Kings, Looney’s presence on the boards was instrumental as he recorded three games with at least 20 rebounds. Nine of his 20 rebounds in Game 3, played without Draymond Green (suspension) and Gary Payton II (illness), came on the offensive end. Looney also led the Warriors in assists (nine) while his teammates were 9-for-9 on his passes. It was a performance that led Green to suggest that he be the one to come off the bench in Game 4 once he returned from his suspension, instead of Looney.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Looney grabbed 23 rebounds. But since May 2, he’s back on the bench for the Warriors to counter the Lakers’ Anthony Davis.
The Warriors’ ability to rely on Looney to rebound and be good with reduced minutes makes him even more important to the team.
“[Looney es] as harsh as it sounds, but he just understands,” Kerr said. “He’s realistic. He sees things very pragmatically and understands that you just do the best you can every day and the circumstances are what they are.”
Old ❌
& Curry in the paint???? @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/hezyT8fwP8
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 11, 2023
THIS SEASON, LOONEY he has taken it upon himself to be a mentor to his younger teammates. He sees himself as a bridge between the Warriors’ “two timelines”: At 27, he’s a bit older than younger players like Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, but still younger than the veteran core of championship.
“Now I’m trying to get that message across to the new guys coming in: These guys are willing to do anything to win. You have to be willing to do the same thing,” Looney said.
As Golden State navigated the fallout from Green pummeling Poole last October, an incident Kerr called the “biggest crisis” the team has faced since he was hired, the Warriors coach said Looney was instrumental in keeping the team together. locker room.
“He’s so quiet, if you don’t pay attention, you might not realize that he’s become the moral compass for our team,” Kerr said last fall after the hit.
That kind of leadership has come in leaps and bounds since the days when Kerr said he had never heard Looney tunes speak.
His actions have gone somewhat under the radar of Warriors fans until recently.
“It doesn’t bother me,” said Looney. Now hearing the “LOOOOON!” from the crowd is enough for him to feel appreciated.
And the gratitude he receives from his peers is what keeps him going.
“I’m happy that they see me as their partner,” Looney said. “In order for me to come in as a young guy, I had to earn their trust and earn their respect. In order to do that, and those players are Hall of Famers, they will be remembered in basketball history forever, for them to see me. Like a partner, like a brother, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
2023-05-12 14:43:00
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