Kevon Looney got some things off his chest while honestly reflecting on the end of his Warriors tenure.
Looney, who signed a two-year free-agent contract with the New Orleans Pelicans last week, joined Marcus Thompson II on the “Warriors Plus/Minus” podcast and shared how he felt a bit slighted by some of Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s rotation decisions, including the choice to play then-rookie Quinten Post over him, particularly in the playoffs.
“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 played just 9.3 minutes per game in the seven-game series against the Houston Rockets in the opening round of the playoffs. In a Game 6 loss, Looney played just two minutes as Houston forced a do-or-die Game 7.
Meanwhile, Post played 17 minutes per game during that series.
While Looney has been the reliable force the Warriors could depend on whenever, he reached a point where it was too much.
“Nah, you get sick of that at some point,” Looney told Thompson II. “When you prove yourself the first four, five years, all right, cool. But after 10 years of it, it’s like, all right. You either trust me or you don’t.”
While Looney felt some type of way about Kerr’s decisions, he knows it’s not personal.
“I just know it’s never personal with Steve,” Looney said. “He’s going to do whatever is best to try to win. It ain’t just me. He’s done this to everybody. I might’ve been the one it was happening to the most because I was here the longest. I know it’s not personal. He just wants to win.
“You can’t be mad because the results showed that. It usually worked. You talk about sacrifice and win, he’s going to really test that sacrifice part.”
As a 10-year NBA vet, Looney understands the business side of the league. And in the end, regardless of the jersey he’s wearing, he’ll always be a Warriors legend in Dub Nation’s eyes.
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