Kevon Looney Thanks Warriors in Post After Pelicans Contract, Not a 'Sad Ending'
While Kevon Looney joined the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year, $16 million deal this offseason, he is incredibly grateful for his 10 years with the Golden State Warriors.
And he made that perfectly clear in a piece he wrote for The Players' Tribune that was published Sunday.
"Not every ending has gotta be a sad ending," he wrote. "I'm leaving the Bay with a huge smile on my face. Thank you for the ride."
Golden State selected Looney with the No. 30 overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft, although it took him some time to establish himself as a key part of the rotation in part because of hip surgery that cost him much of his rookie campaign.
Still, he knew he was part of a basketball dream.
"And looking back on that time now, I was pretty much the luckiest man in the world … when you think about what I walked into.
"Golden State had just beaten the Cavs to win a championship, so I knew we'd be good. But once I got to the Bay, I mean … what I saw? It was almost unreal. It was like I was living in some basketball video game where you can't ever beat the computer.…
"And we were the computer."
Looney ended up winning three championships during his time with the Warriors and reached the point where he appeared in all 82 games in back-to-back seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He went from somewhat of a rookie afterthought in awe of the situation to a major contributor and fell in love with the Warriors along the way.
"Throughout my 10 years with Golden State, there was never a second when I wanted to be anything other than a Warrior," he wrote. "A lot of seasons, no lie, it'd be the trade deadline and I'd be at my house just absolutely sweatin' it out. Just straight up looking at the clock every five minutes that afternoon. Hoping, praying, that the hands on my clock would magically move faster, and that my phone would never ring. That I wouldn't have to go somewhere else."
He also explained he would always choose the Warriors if the money was even close during free agency, although such an offer never came this offseason. Yet he made it clear there are "no hard feelings" even as he joins a Western Conference rival.
Now he will be tasked with bringing veteran leadership and championship experience to a frontcourt that features Zion Williamson.
He will also provide important depth alongside Yves Missi and Derik Queen for a Pelicans team looking to take the next step and become a contender alongside the likes of the Warriors and others in a daunting Western Conference.
Yet it seems like a piece of Looney will always be in Golden State after such a successful tenure with the only NBA team he had ever known prior to joining New Orleans.
