Looney’s latest, biggest development as the Warriors’ 10th season approaches originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Records are meant to be broken, and streaks always have an end point. Some have a deeper meaning than a number. Some have a connection to the soul, reminding themselves all it takes to make it and never let anything break them.
Kevon Looney’s streak of 290 consecutive games played served as a daily example of pushing through the many opportunities the Warriors center could have decided to quit, all opportunities he had to take a day off. The operations. The pieces that a merciless wound bug kept taking out of him. The only NBA franchise he has ever known drafted his replacement, to then become one of the most reliable players on multiple championship teams but receive contracts that still showed some doubts.
All those factors are what made March 7, 2024such a crushing blow. Not just for Looney, but the man who decided not to play him for a single second in a three-point loss to the Chicago Bulls. Warriors coach Steve Kerr has played with all-time greats and coached legends of the game as well. Despite the numerous Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers he’s shared the court with, Looney may be the one Kerr respects the most, which could have made April’s exit interview between player and coach their toughest yet after such a disappointing season for all parties .
Instead, it was a time of relief as Looney faced perhaps his greatest time of uncertainty after already navigating so many roadblocks in his Warriors career.
“He’s somebody that’s always been in my corner,” Looney said in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. “He kind of expressed to me, ‘I don’t know what will happen, but I will always fight for you. I want you to be part of this team while I’m here.’
“He just expressed to me what I need to work on, what he expects from me. He was always talking to me with the intention of me coming back, so he was just expressing what I need to do to continue to improve and continue to help our team.”
But Looney’s return to the Warriors because the 2024-25 NBA season was nowhere near guaranteed. The night before his streak came to an end, Looney only played six minutes – all in the first quarter – of a 35-point blowout win against the Milwaukee Bucks and has spent 19 straight games coming off the bench. Rookie second-round draft pick Trayce Jackson-Davis, who plays the same position as Looneywas inserted into the starting lineup for the final three weeks of the 2023–24 regular season.
The biggest component, however, was Looney’s contract.
Owner Joe Lacob was outspoken in wanting to cut costs that offseason, and Looney appeared to be a potential casualty. His declining role showed that the odds were not in his favor, and only $3 million of his $8 million contract for the 2024-25 season was guaranteed. Looney admits there was “some doubt” about his future with Golden State, but when the June 24 deadline arrived for his contract to be fully guaranteed, key decision makers paid and kept him in a Warriors jersey.
Kerr is not signing contracts but has made his wishes known to the front office, and sources have called Looney’s return “huge for the direction the Warriors are trying to go in leading the young guys and keeping the veterans on track” as his “moral compass.” “
“Until you actually get that guarantee, you never really know,” Looney said. “I’ve been in that situation before where it didn’t go the way I wanted. I was quite optimistic about continuing to be here; I’m glad I’m still here. It’s still a long year, you never know. In the NBA, things can change really, really fast.
“I’m just going to take care of what I can take care of, which is my body, the way I perform and the way I carry myself.”
And so is the 28-year-old, who is now the third longest tenured Warrior behind only Steph Curry. and Draymond Greenattacked another crucial summer for himself and the team alike.
Looney’s main goal after the season ended, a campaign where the Warriors did not make the NBA playoffs and his minutes per game fell to an all-time low in a full season since 2017-18, had to expand his game and remodel his body again. That meant losing weight to play faster, be more versatile on the wing, guard the perimeter and yes, start shooting 3-pointers.
He’s already reached his goal of losing 10 to 15 pounds, and the 6-foot-9 center looks noticeably leaner. “Loon is in phenomenal shape,” one source said.
As one of the NBA’s best rebounders the past few seasons, Looney has played at 260 pounds and expects to play between 245 and 250 pounds this season, where he’s already days away from training camp. Looney continued his secret weapon of YOGA – a form of yoga for athletes that focuses on posture, breathing, flexibility and mobility – and worked with a nutritionist. It’s not so much that he’s changed his training, but the way he trains: What he eats and Looney’s caloric intake have been scrutinized to a science these past five months.
“I feel lighter, I feel a lot lighter,” Looney says. “I feel lighter on my feet, I feel like I can move better. I can move as I want for longer and I feel like I’ve gained a bit more stamina. I will still be in the position and I have to defend those big bodies, so keep that strength and improve weaknesses that I wanted.
“I’m in a good balance now. For me, it’s always been finding that balance where I can be mobile and still be strong enough to hold my own on the block.”
On the court, Looney continued to be a mainstay on the now-famous Rico Hines Runs at UCLA. This year Looney couldn’t help but notice that he is becoming more and more the vet and is being looked to for advice on a regular basis, imparting the same knowledge that Green and Andre Iguodala gave him during the beginning of his career. The sessions also served as a way for Looney to be aggressive shooting the ball in a game-like setting, something that Hines, now a Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach, and the entire Warriors coaching staff have empowered him to do whenever he gets the chance.
If there is an open shot and Looney is in rhythm, from the mid-range or behind the 3-point line, his first option can no longer scan the court for someone else. While he’s looking at a 35- to 36-percent shooting percentage from deep, with the ultimate goal one day being 40 percent, mindset is more important than numbers.
Although Looney doesn’t have a big-name shooting coach like Chris Brickley or Drew Hanlen, he has worked with player development coach Jerred Cook, who he met through Hines, the past few offseasons. When Looney shared his plan to want to shoot threes, Cook lit up, telling him, “I was waiting for you to say that!” Then came the constant reminders that it’s okay to be a little selfish and look for your own shot, knowing that Looney will naturally find others as well.
Footwork and building the ground is part of the process. Confidence is the most essential ingredient.
“I watched a lot of film where I could get shots in the game and try to shoot in those spots,” Looney explained. “And then when I go out there and play, don’t just get used to playing the way I used to play, but actually go out there and shoot the shots that I want to shoot in the game and shoot them. at game speed.”
The weight loss, hard work and commitment to becoming a shooting threat still doesn’t guarantee anything for someone who played every role for Kerr. Starter, bench player, leader and the perfect glue guy no matter how many minutes he plays – Looney really did it all for the Warriors.
Two players, Curry and Green, are the only Warriors guaranteed spots in the starting five. The only role Looney is interested in is playing and being a part of the Warriors getting back to competing for a title. Being introduced into the starting lineup or not won’t change his approach. Preparation is what can give him the confidence to know that Kerr will make the right decision for him and the team after spending nine years together, which brings Looney to a new milestone that garners an immediate smile: to reach a decade playing in the NBA for. one franchise.
Curry and Green are also the two active players who spent the longest time in one team in the NBA. As Curry enters his 16th season as a Warrior, Green goes on 13 seasons for Golden State. Giannis Antetokounmpo will begin his 12th year for the Milwaukee Bucks, and then it’s Looney, along with Nikola Jokic, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns and Myles Turner, who are about to reach the 10-year mark for their respective teams.
“I’ve had a crazy career,” Looney said. “I know the way my career started – I had faith, but I don’t know if anyone else had faith that I could be able to play for that long, especially with the injuries I was dealing with. There was no one I could look to and to support me and just give me confidence. I just had to have faith in myself.
“For me to be able to say that I played 10 years, and not just 10 years jumping, but 10 years with one team, to be able to make contributions in terms of winning basketball, to be part of a team that won multiple championships and made an impact on a community like this and franchise this was great for me. … This basketball thing is not guaranteed. You can be in the league today and leave tomorrow.”
Drafted at 19, Looney went from teenager to man with the Warriors. The life lessons that grew up with him are abundant. Adversity is his greatest strength, holding respect and discipline near and dear to his heart.
Adapt, evolve and then adapt and evolve some more. Looney’s never-ending metamorphosis has him ready to spread his wings and show Warriors fans something new going into Year 10 playing for Dub Nation, and he has no intention of stopping anytime soon.
