ESPN.com · May 12, 2023
Why Golden State's ultimate X factor is center Kevon Looney
STEVE KERR SAT in his Vancouver hotel room pining over one of his players during the Golden State Warriors' preseason trip to Canada in 2016.
He called assistant Chris DeMarco to his room, and the two sat and discussed their then-second-year center, Kevon Looney.
"I don't know if he's going to make it in the league," Kerr told ESPN as he recalled the conversation.
Repeating that sentence out loud hurt Kerr. He had been a longtime advocate for Looney since he was drafted No. 30 overall out of UCLA by the Warriors in 2015.
The team declined to exercise Looney's fourth-year option before the 2017-18 season, which made him an unrestricted free agent the following summer.