Before he became a star in the Bay, Warriors big man Kevon Looney was kind of a big deal in Milwaukee.
In fact, his teammate and former high school adversary Jordan Poole remembers him by a different name.
“He’s a different player now. He was a different player back then -- he did everything,” Poole told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke on the latest episode of “Dubs Talk.”
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“The Loon that I know is point guard Loon.”
Looney and Poole are both champions after helping the Warriors win the 2022 NBA Finals, but they’re also both alumni of Milwaukee Public Schools; Poole attended his first three years of high school at Rufus King High School, while Looney is a graduate of Alexander Hamilton High School.
Poole recalled playing against Looney for the city conference championship, where “point guard Loon” had the entire gym rocking. The mayor was even there to watch Looney, Poole told Burke, as the then-high schooler attempted to break an area record.
“[Looney] was averaging like 35 or 36 [points per game], and he had to score 10 points to break the all-time city record, all-time state record, something like that,” Poole said. “... The paper comes out Friday morning; they got coach saying something like, ‘He’s not going to score 10 points on us.
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“... I think he might have scored 10 points in like, the first five minutes.”
Looney is known more for his ability to set screens and grab rebounds these days, but Poole remembers an athlete who commanded the court like a quarterback.
And Poole thinks the 26-year-old still has some of that in him.
“This is the Kevon that’s in the back of my mind,” Poole said. “When I’m coming off a ball screen and there’s three seconds left, and I don’t have a shot, I want to see Loon get into his bag. Because I know it’s there.
“... He’s really a guard. It might sound crazy, but he grew up playing guard. To see him hit his spins and his pump fakes underneath the basket, that’s why he’s such a good finisher. A lot of people don’t know that … I have such an appreciation for him; that’s definitely big bro.”
The entire city of Milwaukee has an appreciation for Looney, too, Poole explained, as a former high school star-turned-NBA champion.
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And the packed high school gymnasium all those years ago was just a sign of what was to come.
“It was pretty fitting just to see that now he’s kind of, like, the trailblazer that led so many people and gave so many people hope and a chance to go to the NBA from the city he’s from,” Poole said.
“It’s huge.”