GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 25, 2022

Kevon Looney

Media Conference

KEVON LOONEY: As long as I feel good, make it happen.

Q. Kevon, what have you thought about how James has handled all the adversity he's gone through the past couple years?

KEVON LOONEY: I think he's handled it really, really well, to be a high pick like that and to start playing and really not have any training camps, to come into the league during COVID, all the protocols and all the adversity our team was facing and he was facing himself, for him to still have that confidence and still be coming to practice with joy and have a smile on his face, that's tough to do.

I was in that position a little bit. I didn't have as much pressure as him, but he's been handling it well. He's been working hard. He's been listening. He's been asking a lot of questions. I think he's due for some good luck on his side, and I look forward to seeing it.

Q. Think back to the times where you had one year left on your contract and you came into camp.

KEVON LOONEY: Right.

Q. What's that like? What's your mind like? What are you thinking about?

KEVON LOONEY: You want to perform well, get off to a good start. You want to say healthy. That's probably the most important thing. There's always a lot of pressure, more from just your -- not from the team, but just from your family, agent, the outside world. Everybody knows what you're playing for. Attention and focus on winning. And when you win, things take care of themselves.

We have a few guys dealing with that. A lot of them have been in that position. We have good chemistry on this team. And everybody wants to see everybody succeed. I think it's going to be good for everyone.

Q. Is it hard not to do too much, or put that aside and focus on what you need to focus on?

KEVON LOONEY: I wouldn't say it's hard, but you just have to trust the work that you're putting in. You don't want to do too much or too much extra, just believe all the work you put in in the summertime and all the work you put in throughout your career.

Usually, when you do that, good things happen. Warriors have a good track record of taking care of their players, and that's in the back of your head as well.

Q. Skillset-wise in the off-season, what was your main focus?

KEVON LOONEY: Just to continue to improve on what I do, which is finishing around the rim, my defense, continue to try to take another leap in rebounding and getting in the best shape as possible. I want to continue to excel at my role and get better at that and take another leap on the defensive end and take another leap in rebounding. I want to be elite in those two areas. I feel like, if I do that, I will continue to help our team go to another level.

Q. You guys had a really short off-season, but what was the funnest thing you got to do in the off-season that doesn't have to do with basketball?

KEVON LOONEY: I had a lot of fun this summer doing a lot of different things. Having my camp in Milwaukee is fun, seeing the kids and taking the trophy back. That was one of the highlights of my summer.

Got to do a internship at Warner Records, and that was fun.

And then just traveling and seeing the world with my girlfriend, that was fun, getting to take a break and relax.

Those three things are probably my highlights.

Q. Following up on the internship, with the music, what's going on over there?

KEVON LOONEY: Something that I've always been interested in. I can't rap or nothing, so I want to see what the label is like and being on the business side. And for me to go in there and see what their day-to-day work is like, it was a lot of fun, to sit in their meetings and be a worker and be an intern and do some of the dirty work and just learn. So it was a lot of fun.

Q. When people think of the Warriors dynasty, they think of Steph, Klay, and Draymond, but I think you're in there now among those guys in terms of your importance to this core. How have you seen your leadership grow over the last few years, and where do you think that can go in this season?

KEVON LOONEY: It's grown a lot. For me to come here, and my first year or two I didn't really say no words to anybody, to now being the guy that has to kind of bridge the gap and make sure the young guys are getting the message from the older guys on the team, making sure things go smoothly.

And just been taking that role, sitting at the end of bench that I had, David West and Shaun and Andre always had of guys coming in and telling them how they feel and what they seen in the game and asking their advice, and I've taken over that role. Just getting more comfortable being vocal and being a leader on this team. I got some more steps I can take, and I'm looking forward to growing in that area.

Q. You mentioned taking a leap defensively. Where do you think you can --

KEVON LOONEY: Protect the rim a little better, block more shots. I feel like I do a great job positionally. Just being more vocal, being more active. I feel like I do a great job of defending the perimeter really well. I feel like still I can take another step in that area and just being that anchor when Draymond is not on the court.

I feel like last year when he went out, I did a pretty good job, but I feel like I could do a better job of getting guys in position and talking guys through everything and knowing the scouting report a little better.

Those areas on the defensive end, I feel like I can take the next step.

Q. Warner Music?

KEVON LOONEY: Warner Music, yeah.