Not everyone is going to be a superstar who can dictate games and carve out championship paths through sheer will. The players who are not capable of those on-court feats need to find other ways to be valuable. Sometimes it can be finding a niche in how they can control basketball games. In Kevon Looney's case, it might just be his voice that will boost the Los Angeles Lakers most.
In the short time that has passed since the Lakers signed Looney to a veteran minimum, it has always felt like the veteran center has said all the right things that at least someone out there needed to hear. The backup big man in Los Angeles has been both a stabilizing and uplifting force for the team.
There has been a ton of negativity that has surrounded the Lakers this summer. To some capacity, that is par for the course. Even so, it is important to have someone like Looney to push you through all that punditry and encourage genuine belief in the upside of this group.
Intangibles can often go overlooked as the human element of basketball gets downplayed. It is fair to say Looney's on-court contributions may not project to be what they once were. However, to think the three-time NBA champion will not help out the team by being there would be simply inaccurate.
Kevon Looney should be the uniting vocal force for the Lakers
Hyping up the high-end talent, encouraging the role players, and instilling genuine hope about what this season could bring — Looney has done it all so far. The veteran big man recently explained on Mason & Ireland why it all comes easy for him in that department.
"I've played on a lot of teams, with a lot of great players. As a role player, you kind of just find your voice and just try and be able to relate to everybody on the court," Looney said.
Getting a chance to be around that type of guy in Slovenia should have given the Lakers a strong early foundation for self-belief. It will only get strengthened as the season tips off for Los Angeles in just over a month's time.
Looney fully understands what it means to do his part for a contender. That aforementioned ability to relate should allow him to communicate with all the guys in the locker room what is needed of them and when it is needed.
The Lakers may not be among the championship favorites. They will need to seriously win people over in the early goings of this season before anyone adds them to that group.
Sometimes all you really need is a shot to compete. No one immediately picked Luka Doncic's 2024 Dallas Mavericks to make it out of the Western Conference. If the Lakers want to enjoy a similar run of improbable success, a lot of it starts with having a presence like Looney fueling imaginations.
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