Quotes from UCLA's Steve Alford After the 2015 NBA Draft
teleconference remarks from the evening of June 25, 2015
on Kevon Looney going to the defending champion Golden State Warriors
"That’s two years in a row [that a UCLA player has been drafted by the NBA’s defending champs]. You can never predict the draft and you don’t really have any say of where you go. These guys pick their AAU and their high school and their college, and so this is a different experience for them. When you have the draft and you have a chance to go in the first round and to get picked by the defending champs and an organization like Golden State, it doesn’t get much better than that. We said the same thing last year in regard to Kyle [Anderson]. If you talked to Kyle, and he didn’t play a whole lot this year, he got some minutes, but to be a part of that [Spurs] franchise, it was an incredible year for him. I couldn’t be happier for Kevon, because he is going to a terrific organization."
on health concerns prior to the draft and whether Kevon could have gone higher in the first round
"Oh there’s no question, and I think that he definitely dropped because of that. Fortunately, he dropped into a great situation with this franchise. I definitely think there were some concerns. I fielded a lot of phone calls in the last week or two and all my comments were the same. He started in 36 games for us and he played in 32 minutes per game. He never missed a practice and never missed a game. And he suffered a fractured cheekbone [in March] and still didn’t miss a game. He is a very durable individual. But sometimes when that stuff kind of hits, it grows like a wildfire and it’s hard to stop it. That part of it is unfortunate. But in the end, it couldn’t have worked out any better."
on the specifics of health concerns from NBA teams
"It was just about the hip. I was very honest about how we treated it. He sat out for about two to three weeks in late summer, early fall. Once we came back, he never had any issues. He played hard. He was very durable. He played about as many, if not more minutes, than any freshman in the country. He proved himself that way. But, as pro teams do, they’re going to do their due diligence. I’m sure that you could find something wrong with every player in the draft, with as much as you look into everything, medically. We saw no ill effects at all from Kevon."
on what kind of player Norman Powell can be in the NBA
"I'm just really happy for Norman, too. He has worked so hard. He was not on anybody’s draft board last year. What he did during his senior year helped raise his stock. He did a great job this spring in the workouts. There were a lot of teams who called about him and were happy about what he’s been doing. I think that he’s got a great chance to stick and make a roster. I don’t know much about Toronto’s roster, but to get drafted to Kevon’s hometown and now through a trade to go to the Raptors, it’s a great opportunity for him. He’s a big, strong, physical guard who has a chance to be a big defensive guard in that league. He drives the ball as well as anybody, and his shooting is getting better. His numbers have gotten better every year, and you can only assume that that can continue to take place at the professional level. If it does, I think that he has a chance to stick around for a long time."