While Kevon Looney is far from the loudest voice in the Warriors locker room, he has become one of the team’s most respected leaders over the years.
The soft-spoken center, to no one’s surprise, was a quiet 19-year-old in his 2015-16 NBA rookie season, often keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself. That was until a behind-the-scenes incident allowed him to come out of his shell.
Looney joined his former teammate and Warriors forward Draymond Green on the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” where the two recalled an intense locker room incident involving Green and coach Steve Kerr in halftime of a 2016 Western Conference Finals game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. and how the altercation and Looney’s reaction allowed the big man to open up to his teammates.
“This guy (Looney) hadn’t said a word all year, and then Steve (Kerr) and I were arguing in the locker room and he was sitting there laughing uncontrollably,” Green recalled. “And then they start talking and then the reality is seeing something like that, I personally feel like that’s Milwaukee in him. It opened you up.”
“At that point, Steve wanted to kill me and then he realized I wanted to kill him.”
The passionate discussion in the Warriors locker room showed Looney how serious his new team was about winning, something he respected and appreciated.
“Coming in as a rookie, I got hurt early in the year, so I didn’t really get a chance to be around you guys, in the locker room,” Looney said. “I was rehabbing in a different place, so it was a little strange being around you guys, plus you guys were a little older. And we didn’t lose a game either, so I thought, okay, I’m not doing it.” I feel comfortable being myself. Everything seemed to be rosy, winning all the games and then seeing something happen where the guys were really tested, I remembered how my teams grew.
“People really want to win, fight to win. And seeing them all sitting together, it made me feel comfortable. I feel like I was with my guys, like, ‘These are my kind of guys here.’… I felt very comfortable and I came out of my shell a little bit.”
As serious as the incident may have seemed to those outside the Warriors locker room, Looney still can’t help but laugh at the scene that unfolded.
“That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever been a part of,” Looney added. “Sitting next to (Marreese) Speights and everyone trying to calm everyone down, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a serious moment, but hearing Klay (Thompson) in the background telling Draymond (to) ‘relax’… That one “It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever been a part of.”
The Warriors beat the Thunder after the locker room incident and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they blew a 3-1 series lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, six years and potentially countless heated conversations later, Looney and Golden State would win three more championships, cementing themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
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