Coming off a disappointing season in 2023-24, veteran center Kevon Looney was one of the biggest talking points from Golden State Warriors media day at the end of September.
Not only did Looney look noticeably slimmer after the summer, but he also revealed how he spent the entire offseason getting up 400-500 threes per day in the hope of re-inventing his career a decade in.
Yet it took until the final minutes of Sunday's game against the San Antonio Spurs for Looney to make his first three of the season. To be fair, it was only his fourth attempt and came under little pressure as Golden State's blowout 148-106 victory allowed for over a quarter of garbage time. As Looney ripped the net with his rare corner 3-pointer, the Warrior bench exploded in celebrating what was the 3x champion's first made three since 2021.
Warriors' fans shouldn't expect to see more Kevon Looney threes
Looney's numbers have remained incredibly similar to last season, though you could argue he's been more impactful given the Warriors are a +92 in his minutes -- up from +38 through his over 1000 minutes last season.
Yet any improved impact certainly hasn't come from a rejuvenated offensive game, with Looney's value still lying in his strong rebounding, bone-crushing screens, and ability to make the hustle plays that are so important to winning.
In fact, Looney's bit-part role within the Golden State rotation stems from his limited offensive ability. He's a below the rim center who isn't athletic, and nor does he stretch the floor in a way some thought possible given his media day comments.
Big man shooting a three!
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 31, 2025
Kevon Looney threes mixtape 📼 pic.twitter.com/B7D16GyS6o
The 29-year-old doubled down again with similar comments after Sunday's momentous 3-pointer, telling 95.7 The Game's Willard and Dibs, “that’s one thing that can extend my career and take me to another level is being a better shooter and shooting more threes.”
Looney is certainly right, yet the promise of shooting more threes isn't one that Golden State fans should be buying into. Despite what he said at media day, Looney has actually been less of a scoring/shooting threat than he was last season.
In 2023-24, he took 23.6% of his overall field-goal attempts beyond five feet. That's now at 23.2% so far this season, which although basically the same, certainly isn't an increase like we expected after hearing of Looney's offseason activity.
There is still time for him to develop his shooting and become a greater scoring threat over the remainder of his career, but fans should still expect to see Looney's 3-pointer on Sunday as a rare feat rather than one that becomes a regular and reliable option.