Kevon Looney clarifies ‘they forgot about me’ comments regarding Warriors exit originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Kevon Looney’s first trip back to Chase Center in a different uniform brought a swirl of nostalgia — and a chance to clarify a comment that surfaced after his Golden State departure this offseason.
The longtime Warriors center — now with the New Orleans Pelicans — acknowledged previously feeling like Golden State had forgotten about him toward the end of his tenure, as he fell out of coach Steve Kerr’s NBA playoff rotation.
But before Saturday’s matchup against his former team, he made it clear there’s no resentment behind that sentiment.
“It wasn’t really difficult,” Looney said in the pregame press conference with Bay Area reporters. “Steve is the guy that changes lineups, and you kind of have to wait on your opportunity, and he does it to anybody on the team. He just wants to win. He puts the best lineups out there just to win games. And so, it was a real frustration. I kind of know how he thinks, and I know what he’s trying to do.”
Looney admitted that the competitor in him wanted to be out there helping against postseason matchups he has handled for years. But he understands how Kerr operates — and why decisions were made.
“As a player, you see the matchups, and you just want something bad to get out there, to leave an impact,” Looney explained. “It was more along that line, but it was no hard feelings. You know, 10 years, I had a lot of great memories. More great than bad. There were times when I probably didn’t deserve the opportunity, and the coaching staff put me out there, so it kind of all balances out.”
In July, a week after signing with the Pelicans, Looney spoke to The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II on the “Warriors Plus/Minus” podcast and expressed his frustration with his role.
“I guess,” Looney said when Thompson II asked him if Post was the final straw for him. “I wouldn’t say it like that, but it was anybody but me it seemed like at this point. It wasn’t no one moment. Even this year, probably the playoffs. We going up against Steven Adams. This is what I do. They’re not really giving me the chance to really let me do what I do.
“It’s like, ‘All right, y’all don’t trust me? I thought y’all trusted me.’ They put me at the end in Game 7, it’s like why’d we have to wait for that point?”
Looney spent a decade anchoring the Warriors’ frontcourt with relentless rebounding performances during three NBA championship runs, and he earned a reputation as one of the franchise’s most respected locker-room voices.
Those will always outweigh the frustrations of his final season in the Bay.
“It’s all love — those guys are like my family,” Looney said. “When I come back here, all I think about is all the winning we did.”
Looney signed a two-year deal with New Orleans in June, taking on a new role with a young roster. But his long tenure and three rings ensure his Warriors chapter won’t be forgotten, no matter where he plays.
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