Warriors saying goodbye to longtime center

Kevon Looney, the Ground-Bound Mound of Rebound, is joining the New Orleans Pelicans after a decade with the Golden State Warriors. Loon will be missed.

It’s the end of an era, again. One year after four-time champion Klay Thompson left the Golden State Warriors in free agency after 13 seasons, 10-year veteran Kevon Looney is heading to the Big Easy on a two-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Warriors drafted Looney in the first round of the 2015 draft, after their first championship. After leading all freshman in double-doubles during his lone season at UCLA, the Warriors took Looney with the 30th overall pick. He promptly had surgery on both hips, causing him to miss all but five games of his rookie year, then missed the 2017 playoffs with a hip strain.

After that, Looney turned into an iron man. He was a crucial part of the team’s title run, starting five games and averaging 18.4 minutes. Looney started vacuuming up rebounds and was versatile enough defensively the team occasionally used him to stymie James Harden during their heavyweight bout of a conference finals series with the Houston Rockets. In 2018-19, Looney played 80 games and shot 62.5% from the field. In the 2019 NBA Finals, Looney played with a broken collarbone, which was somehow only the third-most significant injury to a Warriors starter in that series.

Along the way, Looney became a trusted veteran on the Warriors despite not being old. In the 2017-18 season, a reporter asked rookie Jordan Bell if he looked up to Looney as an older mentor, and Bell had to explain that Looney was actually a year younger than him. During the Warriors’ attempted “two timelines” roster approach, Looney was the bridge between the young players and the veterans.

What else did he provide, besides tough defense and leadership? Rebounds. Lots and lots of rebounds.

When the Warriors eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 in 2022, they did it on the back of Looney’s 22-rebound performance. He had 11 offensive rebounds, which was more than the Grizzlies’ entire team.

Against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, Looney shocked the Mavs with a 21-point, 12-rebound effort in Game 2. Then he grabbed 18 boards to eliminate them in Game 5. In the Finals, Looney logged a +24 in Game 2 and a +21 in Game 5, visibly frustrating Jayson Tatum when he tried to isolate on him.

In the Warriors’ 2023 first-round series with the Sacramento Kings, Looney had three games of 20+ rebounds and along with Steph Curry, may have ended the Kings’ aspiring dynasty. Domantas Sabonis might still see Looney blocking him out under the hoop when he closes his eyes.

Looney slowed down the last two seasons, while his already unimpressive vertical leap seemed even closer to the ground. He got passed up in the rotation by Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post, but never complained and still did the dirty work which included boxing out, checking the opposing teams biggest player, and setting screens that seemed to get progressively less legal each game.

But he’s a true legend, a consummate professional, and an absolute menace on the boards in his prime. He’ll reunite with old coach Willie Green in New Orleans, where he will mentor young bigs Yves Missi and Derik Queen, set crushing screens to get Trey Murphy III open looks, and hopefully share his weight-loss secrets with Zion Williamson. Plus, he’ll reunite with his old buddy Jordan Poole.

Goodbye and godspeed to Looney, a true Warriors great, Let’s hope he thrives in New Orleans before taking his rightful spot alongside Kerith Burke and Festus Ezeli on Warriors telecasts.