Looney, Myers Lead Warriors to Third NBA Title in Six Years

Former UCLA men's basketball players Kevon Looney and Bob Myers helped the Golden State Warriors earn their third NBA title in the last six years on Thursday night in Boston.
 
Golden State won the best-of-seven-game series, four games to two, with a 103-90 victory against the Boston Celtics on Thursday at Boston's TD Garden.
 
Looney, a 6-foot-9 forward/center from Milwaukee, Wis., has spent his entire seven-year NBA career with the Golden State Warriors, who selected him as the No. 30 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
 
Looney excelled as a freshman at UCLA in 2014-15, averaging 11.6 points and a team-best 9.2 rebounds in all 36 games. He was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection at the conclusion of the regular season, helping lead UCLA to the Sweet 16 in March of 2015.
 
Myers, a four-year guard for the Bruins (1994-97), has served as the Warriors' general manager since April 2012. Golden State has won four championships in the past eight seasons. Myers started his UCLA career as a walk-on during the Bruins' 1993-94 season. He concluded his collegiate career having registered 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game (76 contests).
 
Looney averaged 6.0 points and a career-best 7.3 rebounds per game during the 2021-22 NBA regular season. He was one of five NBA players to have competed in all 82 regular-season games for his team. Looney shot 57.1 percent from the field and tallied at least 10 rebounds in 19 contests.
 
Golden State overcame a two-games-to-one deficit in the best-of-seven-game NBA Finals, defeating the Boston Celtics in Games 4, 5 and 6 to secure the organization's fourth NBA Championship in the past eight seasons. Looney was a part of the Warriors' NBA title-winning teams in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
 
Looney is one of 22 former UCLA basketball players to have helped his NBA team to the NBA Championship. He's among just four former UCLA players to have guided his NBA organization to three or more NBA titles. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA titles – one with the Milwaukee Bucks and five with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jamaal Wilkes won four championships – one with the Golden State Warriors and three with the Los Angeles Lakers, alongside Abdul-Jabbar. Willie Naulls helped the Boston Celtics capture NBA titles in consecutive seasons in 1964, 1965 and 1966.
 
In addition, Looney is one of four former UCLA players in the past six seasons to have won the NBA Finals. In 2017, Looney and Matt Barnes helped Golden State win the NBA title. One year later (2018), Looney helped Golden State win a second consecutive championship. In 2019, Norman Powell was a pivotal part of the Toronto Raptors' title-winning team. Last summer (2021), Jrue Holiday guided the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Championship.
 
In all, 22 former UCLA basketball players have led their NBA organizations to the NBA Championship 36 times (six former UCLA players have won at least two NBA titles).