NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 7, 2022

Kevon Looney

Golden State Warriors

Practice Day

Q. With you being the only guy on the team that's played in every game this season, we coined you as the Ironman. What is your nickname with the team?

KEVON LOONEY: I got a lot of different nicknames going on right now. I get the Ironman. My big man coach calls me Aloonzo. I got a lot of weird nicknames going on right now.

I just try to enjoy, embrace the names. My first couple years, I don't think nobody knew my name. To get a nickname is pretty exciting.

Q. What has this playoff been like for you where you came into it, it seemed like, yes, you had the starting role and everything, but you weren't scoring that much. All of a sudden you're putting up double-doubles almost every game. What has it been like, this rise to being talked about a lot?

KEVON LOONEY: It's been pretty cool. The playoff experience for me has been pretty up and down. In the first series, I didn't play as many minutes just based off the matchup. As the playoffs went along, started getting more time and more opportunity. Trying to just embrace it, take full advantage of my opportunities I've been getting. It's been paying off for me. Been able to score more. Been able to rebound better.

Trying to rise my game to the challenge. Each round, it gets harder and harder. Just want to be there for the team and play as well as possible. For me, it's been going pretty well. Fans been recognizing it. My teammates always give me the credit, but the fans in the Bay Area just giving me a lot of love. It's been great to get that love. Hopefully be able to cap it off with a championship. It would be an amazing feeling for me.

Q. The percentage of shots at the rim league-wide is at a 20-year low right now. Over the past five playoffs it's just been dropping every year. Can you speak to how difficult it is to get a shot off at the rim in the postseason and how much of a priority defensively it is to keep opponents away from the restricted area.

KEVON LOONEY: It's definitely tough to get shots off in the paint. I talk to the guys on the team about that. Some of the guards have the understanding when you get a drop ball, don't convert it, they kind of be mad at you. A lot of hands coming by, a lot of guys trying to block shots.

It's tough to score down there, especially when across the league you got guys that can block shots, are athletic like Robert Williams, Horford. Teams are game planning to take away layups and take away threes. It's a focus on stopping layups and being there.

When you're a big, the refs don't call as many fouls. The guys are allowed to beat up on you down there. It's tough.

It's fun going down there and competing and trying to finish. For me as a big, it's fun trying to block shots and doing all those dirty things down there, to be physical, just being tough. Definitely hard. It's definitely different from when I first got in the league until now. They talk about how the league is getting smaller, we're playing a lot of small ball. Still guys down there that can really block shots, guys that can jump in and make it tough on guys.

Q. Has Andre made anybody get Dunkin Donuts?

KEVON LOONEY: No doughnut runs this year. Now Andre is on his health kick so he don't want nobody eating bad.

He’s definitely giving a lot of advice on - what I should say - how to make money, make sure guys save money, make sure the rookies ain't spending it all too fast. That's been his biggest thing, he's been telling guys how to do that now.