On June 3, Beijing time, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Toronto Raptors 109-104 in the g2 of the finals. Although the Warriors completed the reversal in the second quarter when they were 12 points behind, they paid a lot of money for it, and three players of the Warriors, including Thompson, Iguodala and Looney, returned to the locker room for treatment due to injury.
Although in the eyes of many fans, Looney's role in the Warriors is not as big as Thompson and Iguodala, he is also an integral part of the team, and there are many places worthy of our admiration in his basketball career, so today we also talk to you about Kevin. Looney the player.
Looney left the court due to injury in today's game, and from the latest update from the Warriors, we can know that Looney's chest was contused during the game, and whether it will affect the next game is still to be determined. Even so, Looney was asked in an interview with team reporter Makr Medina after the injury that he would play in the G3, and the latter said: "That's something I planned, at least I'll go up and try it, unless I wake up tomorrow and feel worse, I'm definitely going to give it a try." ”
Looney has been reticent for most of the time on the team, but he transforms into a tough guy whenever he goes to the basketball court, even if he suffers from various injuries. In fact, from college to now, injuries have always accompanied Looney, but he did not complain too much, but silently did his job on the basketball court.
In high school, looney, although he was taller than others, his pace was still very flexible. In his senior year of high school (four years of high school in the United States), Looney not only averaged 27.9 points, 12.7 rebounds, 7 assists and 8 blocks per game, but also helped the team win the league championship this year. In the eyes of many basketball media, Looney is a rising basketball star, and they have rated him as a five-star high school player in the class of 2014.
Looney has been particularly fond of Lakers basketball superstar Kobe Bryant since he was a child, so he joined UCLA after he graduated from high school, but this is an important dividing line in his basketball career. Before officially playing in NCAA, Looney had to take a two- or three-week break before the season began due to injury. In the first half of his freshman season, although Looney has been plagued by a right hip injury, he has still been able to cut two doubles in seven of his first 10 games, which has also made his draft market good, and if nothing else, he will be a member of the 2015 Lotto zone.
Unfortunately, God did not pay much attention to this introverted big man, and in 2015, in a game in the Big 12 League, Looney's left cheek was injured by an elbow from his opponent, because they had a very important game the next day, so he had to wear a mask and fight with an injury. Although Looney's injury helped UCLA advance to the Sweet 16, injuries on his hips and cheeks seriously affected his performance, which also caused his draft market to decline to a certain extent.
On the night of the 2015 draft, Looney was invited to the little green house of the draft, thinking that he would be selected with the first 14 picks, but it was because of the repeated injuries that he eventually fell to the 30th pick before being selected by the Warriors. In order to get rid of the injury, Looney negotiated with the team after playing the 2015 summer league for the Warriors and underwent surgery on the buttocks.
In the 2015-16 season, Looney played just five games for the Warriors, spending the vast majority of the rest of his time in injury recovery and development leagues. It's an extremely difficult time for a rookie who is selected in the last round, as he can be left on the bench or in a development league at any time. Luckily, as a blue-collar player on the team, Looney's dedication on the basketball court allowed him to gradually gain the trust of the team.
However, to Looney's surprise, his left hip had not yet fully recovered, and his right hip had been injured during another training session, for which he had to undergo surgery again and continue to fight the injury. Two hip surgeries have greatly reduced Looney's athletic ability, and he is no longer as flexible as before. Despite this, Looney did not complain about the world, but focused on recovering from training, and tried to express himself every time he played, conquering others with the most professional attitude.
Based on injuries and team lineup considerations, the Warriors announced on October 31, 2017, that they were waiving Looney's team option for the 2018-19 season, which means that the latter will soon fall out of the rotation and become an outsider to the Warriors. Despite this, Looney played diligently in the team, and his professionalism and performance on the pitch once again impressed the team's management.
After Looney won the championship with the team in 2018, he received a $1.57 million one-year base salary contract from the Warriors. What no one expected was that Looney, as a player who had been abandoned by the Warriors, frequently appeared as a miracle player when the team's interior was plagued by various injuries, and so far this season (June 3), Looney has averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in the playoffs, and his shooting percentage is as high as 73%.
Suffering from various degrees of injuries, Looney has never been defeated by them, he was once abandoned by the team, but he can still appear on the basketball court with the most professional posture and do his best for the team's victory, this is Kevin. Looney, a basketball player worthy of our study and respect!