Rookie Looney happy to do legwork for Warriors
Kevon Looney understands his situation. He knows he’s playing for the NBA champions and that few roster spots will be available next season.
Looney, a 6-foot-9-inch rookie forward from UCLA, realizes being a first-round pick who will get guaranteed money doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a factor with the Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 season.
“I’m going to have to prove myself and earn my way,” Looney said at the NBA Summer League. “At this level, nothing’s given to you.”
The Warriors can afford to be patient with Looney, who declared for the draft after his freshman season at UCLA. They re-signed free-agent forward Draymond Green, and there’s enough frontcourt depth for the 19-year-old Looney to ease into the transition of life in the NBA.
“That’s the big challenge for me, staying patient with myself,” he said. “Obviously I want to come here and play well and contribute to the Warriors. It’s a great organization, and I love the way they play. My game fits in well with what they do.
“But I also know I’m a rookie and I’m just 19.”
Looney’s summer league debut Friday was relatively average. He had five points and six rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench in the Warriors’ 83-75 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He seemed tentative, which is understandable given he’s in a new situation playing with new teammates. But he figures to be more relaxed when Golden State faces Atlanta at 5:30 p.m. today at the Thomas &Mack Center.
General manager Bob Myers is more concerned with how Looney fits into the Warriors’ system than his stats.
“I never judge a player based on one summer league game,” Myers said. “He’s young. He has to keep learning. With guys like him, you want to see how they accept the coaching, and he has been very receptive so far.”
The Warriors take the summer league seriously. The nucleus of the team that won the NBA championship last month cut its teeth in Las Vegas.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Green, Festus Ezeli and Harrison Barnes have played in the summer league and were part of a 16-game win streak from 2010 to 2014. The Warriors won the first summer league title in 2013 and have the most wins of any participating team in Las Vegas (32).
“I think Vegas is vital to us,” Myers said. “It’s a little taste of the NBA, and our guys have taken it seriously over the years.”
Players such as Looney are told that winning in Las Vegas matters. He said he didn’t need to be told to play hard.
“I grew up watching the summer league, so I know it’s important to your development,” he said. “I see it as an investment in my basketball future. I want to go out and compete and show the Warriors I belong.”
Looney suffered a hip injury at UCLA, and though he did not require surgery and played 36 games, there were concerns about his health. That might explain why he dropped to No. 30 in the draft.
“I had suffered a hip injury when I first got to UCLA, and I played the whole season with it,” Looney told reporters after he was drafted by Golden State. “I went through the (draft) workouts with it. I still can play now. I can play just fine. I can walk good. I’m not hurting right now.
“I’m looking to the doctors to tell me what they really want to do, but this is an injury that I had, and I can actually play with, and I can actually do well with it.”
He showed no signs of discomfort Friday, and Myers said the team doesn’t consider it an issue.
Looney knows basketball is his job now. But that doesn’t mean he can’t have fun.
“I’m getting to live my dream, and I’m getting a chance to make a name for myself and make a statement,” he said.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.