Golden State Warriors forward Kevon Looney was rewarded for his loyalty to the team with a three-year, $15 million contract in the summer, coming off a year in which he signed for the minimum as one of the last players to be signed back into the roster. Yet the big man admitted he had to take a bit of a pay cut to remain with the franchise that drafted him.

“A little bit. I took a little bit (of a pay cut). But it was nothing crazy,” Looney told Anthony Slater of The Athletic, noting he'd rather take a bit less to play with a good team. “That’s what it came down to. I could always hear my vets in the back of my ear. They always say, ‘Get every dollar … but … as long as you can be here, stay. There’s no other place like this.'

Looney has had four whole years of veteran wisdom imparted on his ears, with mentors like Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, and since-retired David West telling him how to navigate free agency and make the best of his situation.

Matter of fact, all three of them have commented on how big of a puzzle piece he is for this team and how they were hoping he gets paid his due in free agency. Loon fielded offers from the Houston Rockets as well as both Los Angeles teams in the summer, properly surveying the market and giving Golden State officials that adequate fear of potentially losing him.

In the end Looney chose long-term security and comfort to remain with a team that will now need him more than they did last season, as a crucial frontcourt anchor behind Green and newcomer Willie Cauley-Stein.