He still looks like he’s 35 and been around for ages, but Kevon Looney is only 26 years old. He’s the least known of the Warriors starters, and yet he’s a totem. He has even become indispensable, especially when the team is hit by injuries. A winger by training when he was in high school, he has become a pivot over the years, and every night he is the one who adapts to his teammates.
Like in Toronto this weekend. The team was without Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, and Kevon Looney pulled out all the stops to score his second straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. A first for him in his career!
“I just knew that all the attention would be on Klay (Thompson) and Jordan (Poole), and I had to be more aggressive, both in creation and in points” explains Kevon Looney. “I wanted to set the tone a bit, to be more aggressive… Just to try to create and do the right readings. »
Already against the Sixers, in the absence of Draymond Green, Kevon Looney had proven that we could count on him to create the game, and not just be a screenwriter. “I insist, he had already done it before” reacts Steve Kerr. “When Draymond is forfeited, Kevon takes on that role in our offense, the guy who takes the ball, goes hand-to-hand, gets the ball around…He’s so smart, and he hadn’t lost a ball in that game. match. »
Kevon Looney, the perfect bridge between generations
Even if the Warriors had cracked over time against the Sixers, Kevon Looney had taken the opportunity to sign his most complete game in his career: 14 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. One pass from the triple-double! “He constantly makes the simple gesture, the right gesture” continues Steve Kerr. “Frankly, we need that more in the team. Loon understands that. He’s a veteran. He’s a champ. He understands the game.”
Another quality of Kevon Looney, inherent to his age, is his ability to make the link between the older generation (Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala) and the new (Poole, Kuminga, Wiseman…). It was he who had played an essential role after the punch of Draymond Green on Jordan Poole.
“In the locker room, my role is rather to bring everyone together. I’m in the middle in the age gap and maybe in the relationship between young and old. I’m just trying to relay the culture and winning habits that all the elders taught me. I try to bring it to young people and explain to them what coaches and elders expect of them. »
| Kevon Looney | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2015-16 | GOS | 5 | 4 | 57.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| 2016-17 | GOS | 53 | 8 | 52.3 | 22.2 | 61.8 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 |
| 2017-18 | GOS | 66 | 14 | 58.0 | 20.0 | 54.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 4.1 |
| 2018-19 | GOS | 80 | 19 | 62.5 | 10.0 | 61.9 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 6.3 |
| 2019-20 | GOS | 20 | 13 | 36.7 | 7.1 | 75.0 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.4 |
| 2020-21 | GOS | 61 | 19 | 54.8 | 23.5 | 64.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 4.1 |
| 2021-22 | GOS | 82 | 21 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 7.3 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 6.0 |
| 2022-23 | GOS | 31 | 23 | 65.2 | 0.0 | 64.6 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 7.8 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| Total | 398 | 17 | 57.5 | 17.2 | 61.0 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 4.8 | |
