Kevon Looney grinned when he read a text from his dad on his phone in the visitors locker room following the Golden State Warriors’ playoff triumph on Wednesday night. The Warriors forward received a text from Schreiner University’s all-time leading rebounder after another 20-rebound postseason game.
“Wow, great game today,” he texted. He cares nothing about points. Looney smiled after the Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings 123-116 in Game 5 at Golden 1 Center. “He can say, ‘You gave up the boxout. You quit. Always go. He’ll talk about that when I phone him after a game. I always went for the rebound after he texted me, “Great game, son.”
In Game 6 in San Francisco on Friday, the Warriors can win the series. Each scored over 20 points in Game 5. Looney did the heavy work in the Warriors’ historic win with a game-high 22 rebounds on four points.
Looney joined Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond as the only Warriors players to have multiple 20-rebound games in a postseason series. The Warriors won Game 3 114-97 with 20 rebounds from Looney. The eight-year NBA veteran averages 14.4 rebounds in the Kings series.
Due to his upbringing, Golden State Warriors’ Kevon Looney is “greedy” for rebounds.
Green: “From the time he has gotten the opportunity, he’s shown he could [rebound]. Expect it. One of the highest compliments. “Loon” should rebound the basketball. Every night, he gets us offensive glass possessions.
Looney, a basketball historian, knows about Chamberlain and Thurmond. Before his July 16, 2016 death at 74, Thurmond attended Warriors home games. Looney, drafted in 2015, said he never met Thurmond before his death.
Looney said recording with Chamberlain and Thurmond “incredible.”
“That’s insane. “I watched a lot of those, the biographies and different things like that,” Looney added. I often tell my dad to discuss the greats. To be listed with them in rebounding and other things is amazing.”
Looney attributes his rebounding success to his father and brother.
In the early 1980s, Doug Looney was Schreiner University’s top forward. He remains the school’s all-time rebounder. Doug Looney, his son’s youth basketball coach, stressed rebounding and boxing more than scoring.
During Warriors games, Kevon Looney recalls his father’s rebounding lessons. If he forgets, dad will text him.
My dad stressed boxing and principles. Maybe rebounding is genetic. But that’s something I always practiced and took pride in,” said Kevon Looney, who was 15th in the NBA in rebounding this season with a career-high 9.3 per game. He told me rebounding was about time, ball angles, boxing out, knowing when to go, and other things. He only yelled at me about that growing up.
“Placing and boxing. If I missed a boxout, I’d be criticized. He’ll text me halftime. Box out. Run back and box. various things.”
Playing basketball with his older brother Kevin required Looney to rebound well as a child.
The Looney family had a backyard basketball hoop and a school basketball court in Milwaukee. Kevon could play basketball with his six-year-old brother Kevin Looney, but he had to rebound more than shoot.