Beloved former Warrior Kevon Looney welcomed back to Bay Area: ‘So many memories’

SAN FRANCISCO Kevon Looney had navigated Chase Center s winding halls hundreds of times during his -year career But Saturday afternoon s trek through the glitzy San Francisco arena was his first as a visiting player an unfamiliar experience for the former Warrior still adored by the organization and its fans I thought I knew the Chase Center like the back of my hand Looney now a member of the Pelicans declared But I didn t know where I was going going to the other side The home association is plenty familiar with Looney though After being chosen No overall out of UCLA in the draft by the then-reigning champs the -foot- Looney fought through injury concerns and developed into a dependable option at center an iron man consecutive games played and beloved locker room presence On the court he blossomed into a rebounding machine first getting major postseason minutes during the Curry-Thompson-Green-Durant club s title run in There s so numerous memories that come back when I come through here when I think about my time here Looney stated I d like to be remembered as being a tough guy a guy who displayed up every night and brought his hard hat every night and didn t complain about anything By the time the Warriors revamped around the Big four years later Looney was an established veteran for coach Steve Kerr s unit He grabbed boards in the semifinal clincher against Memphis in and then pulled in rebounds to help closeout the Mavericks in Championship a scant weeks later as the Warriors went on to win a fourth title of the Steph Curry era Goes way beyond the court stuff Kerr announced Just his locker room presence his maturity the way he generated a professional atmosphere with the whole group He was just a remarkable teammate But his impact on the floor averages of points and rebounds in games was dwarfed by what he did off it Looney became a go-to for young players who needed a shoulder to lean on as they learned the ropes of NBA life Among those who counted Looney as a mentor was fellow Milwaukeean Brandin Podziemski He was a big brother to me Podziemski noted after the teams played in New Orleans earlier this month It s sad to see him in a different uniform but I love that man and he s done a lot for me on the basketball court and mentally away from it I can t thank him enough His leadership was not limited to only guards Over the last sparse years of his Warriors tenure the organization brought in a series of bigs that could and did eat into his playing time But instead of keeping the competition at arm s length Looney welcomed them into the organization Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post both and brought in over the past three seasons raved about Looney s willingness to help them adjust to a pro locker room and a faster challenge He does all of the little things and there is no ego involved with anything he does Post disclosed It s easy to follow a guy like that Looney embraced that side of the contest Related Articles Warriors Kerr gives timetable for accomplishable Melton return Curry s injury assessment a big relief Warriors Thigh injury will keep Steph Curry out at least a week How Will Richard s year in Nashville set him on path to Warriors Kurtenbach The Warriors delight is gone and Steph Curry might be too Steph Curry exits late with quad injury as Warriors fall to Rockets You feel like you re doing a good job as a mentor but you never know until you genuinely hear them talk about you when you re not around Looney reported For them to give me high praise like that is something I really enjoy and hopefully they do the same thing for the next guys coming up In an era of participant movement Looney was poised to became one of the last non-superstar one-team lifers But it was not to be As the club remained in stasis as the Jonathan Kuminga contract negotiation dragged through the summer Looney signed a two-year million deal with the Pelicans this offseason No hard feelings Looney disclosed Ten years had a lot of great memories it s all love and those guys are my family But after missing the first five games of the season with a left knee injury and averaging around minutes a night over his first seven appearances Looney has been mostly dropped from the rotation by a revamped Pelicans coaching staff With James Borrego replacing the deposed Willie Green Looney has played in only two of the last seven games and did not spend even a minute on the court when the Warriors played in New Orleans on Nov But that has not stopped Looney from learning to love his new town The food out there is great in New Orleans the people out there are great and Southern Hospitality is a real thing Looney declared I m starting to really get myself in the area and hope to do more out there But even if he becomes a consistent part of the rotation for a rebuilding Pelicans unit he will forever be known as a Warrior Got a little bit more anxiety for a regular season match than normal Looney disclosed A lot of jitters but I m excited Other notables The Warriors publicized that both Jonathan Kuminga and Gary Payton II will be available for Saturday s championship Kuminga has missed the past seven games with knee soreness The gang also stated that De Anthony Melton who has been rehabbing from an ACL tear is expected to be activated next week