Kevon Looney has spent his entire NBA career with the Golden State Warriors, won three championships with the team and has played alongside one of the most polarizing players in Draymond Green.
Green has been scrutinized throughout his career over his intense moments and some of the antics he portrays on the court, from swinging his elbows, kicking someone or trash-talking.
Even through that, Looney told Fox News Digital he enjoys playing with Green.
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Kevon Looney, #5, and Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, stand for the national anthem prior to the game against the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 13, 2022 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. (Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
“It’s a lot of fun actually. Every night you try to go all out,” Looney said. “He’s never gonna shortchange you. He’s gonna give you all that he has. And, as a teammate, you love that. You respect his physicality, you respect his intensity, his willingness to win.
“He’s willing to sacrifice his body. He’s willing to sacrifice anything to win and protect his teammates. I love playing with him. I’ve learned a lot from him since I’ve been here.”
With the amount of winning the Warriors have done for quite some time, Green, along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, have set a higher standard for winning.
However, Looney suggested the bar should be that high given Golden State’s reputation.
Draymond Green, #23 of the Golden State Warriors, reacts to a play during the game against the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 10, 2024 at Chase Center in San Francisco. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
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“It makes it easy when you know you’re coming into work and you got him and Steph and Klay that set this culture of winning and excellence for all these years. It makes everybody kind of fall in line. It makes losing not OK,” he explained to Fox News Digital. “That’s why we’ve been good for so long. Them guys want to win every game. They don’t care about stats – they just care about winning and making it to the end, trying to win the championship.
“When your leaders are holding everybody to that accountability and fans are holding us to that standard, it puts a different stake at every game. It can wear on you, but I think it wears on you for the good. I think those guys hold everybody to that standard, and we live up to it.”
Injuries have plagued the Warriors this season as they find themselves fighting to stay in contention for the play-in tournament.
Looney, who spoke to Fox News Digital on behalf of his new partnership with Invisalign, said he thinks the last handful of games can help the team build momentum.
Kevon Looney, #5 of the Golden State Warriors, warms up before the game against the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center on Feb. 10, 2024 in San Francisco. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
“It’s been a lot of adversity this year,” he said. “Personally, I think we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We got off to a good start then we got into a rough patch. Kind of had guys in and out of the lineup. Myself, I’ve been all over the place in the lineup.
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“Since February, I thought we had turned the corner a little bit. We still had a little bit of bumps and bruises but we’re headed in the right direction. We see potential. We’ve been living up to the potential a little bit. We should go out there these last (few) games and try to put it all together and get hot at the right time.”
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