Kevon Looney has received oodles of praise since DeMarcus Cousins made his return to the court five games ago against the L.A. Clippers. The Golden State Warriors big man had his share of starts after 7-footer Damian Jones went down due to a season-ending injury, allowing him to flourish with the first unit and serving as a reward for his improvement and constant mettle.

Looney is still getting roughly the same amount of minutes, taking only a slight decline, but only making his presence felt on the glass when Cousins takes a seat.

“Kevon is the ultimate professional. You get the same Loon no matter what the condition is,” Cousins said, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. “Good day? Bad day? Things don’t go his way? You get the same result. He’s going to come in and work. He’s going to give you everything on the floor. He’s ready when his name is called upon.”

The 6-foot-9 quasi-center's story wasn't always this grand. His first two years had him destined to be out of the league by now, but a change on his diet helped him overcome nagging injuries, finally allowing him to bloom into the long, rangy player he was at UCLA before being selected by the Warriors.

“That’s the beauty of Kevon. He just comes to work,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “If he starts, he starts. If he’s off the bench, he’s off the bench. Never changes expression. Work ethic never changes. His effort never changes. He’s like a metronome. Every day, you know exactly what you’re going to get. That’s what every coach dreams of. When you have that, your job becomes so much easier.”

Now in his fourth year in the league, he's finally getting his fair share of minutes (21 per game) while also making waves with career-highs in scoring (6.8 points), rebounding (5.9), field goal percentage (62.6), and free-throw percentage (63).

Loon will be a hard cog to keep at the end of the summer after Golden State signed him to a one-year deal for the minimum this past offseason.