NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 4, 2022

Kevon Looney

Golden State Warriors

Practice Day

Q. How has your role changed from your first trip? And how do you prepare differently?

KEVON LOONEY: My first trip to the Finals, I didn't even have a jersey. I was in a suit. So my role changed a lot. I've been starting most of the season, and more of a rotational player. So I came a long way in my career. I'm kind of proud of that. What was the second part of that question?

Q. How do you prepare differently?

KEVON LOONEY: Just preparing differently, knowing I'm going to play a lot more minutes going into the game. Before, my first couple trips to the Finals, I might get some spot minutes here and there. But knowing that I'm starting, I've got to make sure my team gets off to a good start, make sure I set the tone physically with my physicality and rebounding.

So things have changed a lot for me since I've been here.

Q. The team mindset going into Game 2?

KEVON LOONEY: People are just excited. We're excited. We feel like we had a decent game, Game 1. Kind of let it go in the fourth quarter. We feel like we've got a good game plan. Just got to execute it better going into the second game.

It's The Finals. They're a great team. There's going to be ups and downs. We've got to punch first, and we've got to respond. I think everybody is excited and looking forward to get back out there on the court.

Q. Do you notice anything on the film session for that fourth quarter, major adjustments you guys need to make?

KEVON LOONEY: I wouldn't say anything major. We've got to play harder and match their physicality. We play real physical in spurts. Sometimes we let them play their style of ball. We just let them move the ball around and get some easy shots. We've just got to put together a whole game. Can't have mental lapses in the Finals. They're a good team. If you give them an inch, they're going to take it and take advantage of it.

We've just got to play our Warriors brand of basketball for 48.

Q. How good is it to have all of these guys with experience, you among them, for these guys after playing in their first Finals game?

KEVON LOONEY: I think it's very important to have that experience. For us to lose a game like that, the first game at home in the Finals, if it's your first time there, you can kind of break apart or get nervous or maybe not know how to react. We've got guys who have been there before. It's not the first time losing a game in the Finals. There's a lot of ups and downs when it comes to this stage. There's going to be a lot of different media coverage and talking heads talking about different things.

Just having those guys to lean on, to let people know it's going to be all right, we're going to be okay, it's one game. When it comes from guys like Steph, Draymond, Andre, it means the world coming from guys like that.

Q. What has Andre meant to the team? Even when he hasn't been able to be on the court this season, but as a mentor, as an additional coach to the guys?

KEVON LOONEY: He's been a major part in our locker room. Even though he hasn't played in as many games, him just being there to coach, not just the young guys, but the veteran guys as well. He's somebody that everybody can kind of lean on. Steph, Draymond can go to him and bounce ideas off of him. And he can mentor guys like J.K. (Jonathan Kuminga), J.P. (Jordan Poole), me, and get guys going in the right direction.

When things aren't going well, sometimes you don't want to go to the coach and talk. But having a guy like him that has a lot of experience and has been through all the wars and he knows what's going on and he knows the feeling, having somebody to talk to has been huge for us, for our locker room.