Kevon Looney reveals the reason behind his decision to leave the Golden State Warriors on free agency

The New Orleans Pelicans significantly strengthened their squad this offseason by signing former Golden State Warriors forward and current free agent Kevon Looney to a two-year, $16 million deal.

National Basketball Association (NBA) insider and ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the news on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, July 1.

“Free agent center Kevon Looney has agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. Life Sports Agency CEO Todd Ramasar and the Pelicans reached a deal tonight for the three-time NBA champion, who departs the Golden State Warriors after 10 years,” Charania wrote.

This marked the end of a decade-long stint with the Warriors for Looney, who was one of the franchise’s longest-tenured players alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

The 29-year-old recently made an appearance on the “Warriors Plus/Minus” podcast where he opened up on why he decided to leave Golden State on free agency. The forward was unhappy with the rotation decisions made by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, which included the highly debated decision to play then-rookie Quinten Post over him in the important playoff stage.

“I guess. I wouldn’t say it like that, but it was anybody but me it seemed like at this point. It wasn’t no one moment. Even this year, probably the playoffs. We are going up against Steven Adams. This is what I do. They are not really giving me the chance to really let me do what I do,” Looney said.

Kevon Looney via #WarriorsPlusMinus on one factor that led him to want out of Golden State pic.twitter.com/eq05eRZ9TQ

— KNBR (@KNBR) July 15, 2025

“It’s like, ‘All right, you all don’t trust me? I thought you all trusted me.’ They put me at the end in Game 7, it’s like why do we have to wait for that point?,” he added.

Looney does make a valid point as he averaged just 9.3 minutes per game in the Warriors seven-game series against the Houston Rockets in the first-round of last season’s NBA playoffs. In comparison, Post averaged 17 minutes per game in the same series.

“Nah, you get sick of that at some point. When you prove yourself the first four, five years, all right, cool. But after 10 years of it, it’s like, all right. You either trust me or you don’t,” Looney added.

Looney is coming off a subpar 2024–25 NBA season, during which he was relegated to a bench role. He averaged just 4.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 0.5 blocks per game across 76 appearances, with an average of 15.0 minutes per game. Despite the decline in production, he ranked among the top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage among players who played at least 40 games.

“I just know it’s never personal with Steve Kerr. He’s going to do whatever is best to try to win. It ain’t just me. He’s done this to everybody. I might have been the one it was happening to the most because I was here the longest. I know it’s not personal. He just wants to win,” he concluded.

It’s worth noting that the current NBA collective bargaining agreement has placed greater financial constraints on teams like Golden State. As a result, the Warriors were more conscious of their payroll and allowed Looney to complete his three-year, $22.5 million contract before entering free agency.

Selected as the 30th overall pick by Golden State in the 2015 NBA Draft, Looney played a key role in the Warriors’ championship runs in 2017, 2018, and 2022. He brings to New Orleans a strong rebounding presence, valuable postseason experience, and veteran leadership. His addition will provide depth in the frontcourt as the Pelicans aim for a playoff push in the 2025–26 season.

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