Former UCLA standout forward Kevon Looney returns to the NBA Finals this week as the Golden State Warriors take on the Boston Celtics in a best-of-seven game series that will begin on Thursday, June 2.
 
Thursday night's game at the Chase Center in San Francisco is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (PT) and will be nationally televised on ABC.
 
Looney, a second-team All-Pac-12 honoree at UCLA in 2014-15, was a part of Golden State's championship teams in 2016-17 and 2017-18. This will mark the fifth time Looney has played for a Warriors team that won the NBA's Western Conference title (previously in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019).
 
During the 2022 postseason, Looney has averaged 6.1 points and 7.7 rebounds in 16 games. He finished with a pair of double-doubles and totaled at least 10 rebounds in three games during the five-game series against Dallas (Western Conference Finals). Looney scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Warriors' Game 2 victory versus the Mavericks.
 
A 6-foot-9 forward from Milwaukee, Wis., Looney averaged 11.6 points and a team-leading 9.2 rebounds in all 36 games as a freshman at UCLA in 2014-15. He was the No. 30 overall selection as the final first-round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Looney has played for Golden State through all of his seven NBA seasons.
 
During the 2021-22 regular season, Looney was one of five NBA players to compete in all 82 regular-season games, along with Mikal Bridges (Phoenix Suns), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks), Deni Avdija (Washington Wizards) and Saddiq Bey (Detroit Pistons). He finished the regular season with averages of 6.0 points and a career-best 7.3 rebounds per game.
 
Golden State secured the Western Conference's No. 3 seed with an overall record of 53-29. The Boston Celtics earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, compiling a record of 51-31.
 
In addition to Looney, former UCLA player Bob Myers serves as Golden State's President of Basketball Operations / General Manager. In his current role, Myers oversees the entire basketball operations department on a day-to-day basis. He was originally named the organization's GM on April 24, 2012.
 
Including Looney (in 2017 and 2018), UCLA's program has seen 22 former players help their NBA team win the NBA Finals 35 total times. Last season, Jrue Holiday played a major role for the Milwaukee Bucks in their run to the 2021 NBA Championship. In all, at least one former UCLA player has led his NBA team to the NBA Finals 68 times (including Looney in 2022).
 
Six former UCLA players have guided their respective teams to an NBA title at least twice – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Jamaal Wilkes (4), Willie Naulls (3), Jordan Farmar (2), Kevon Looney (2) and Bill Walton (2).