SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors guard Moses Moody, running faster and jumping higher than he did as a rookie last season, credits an unlikely source for his increased athleticism.
“I’d like to dedicate a lot of my newfound athleticism to Kevon Looney,” Moody said last week, barely concealing his grin.
Would that be Kevon Looney, your Warriors teammate? The guy with two surgically repaired hips, does an impressive job of managing neuropathy but is more of a chugger than a sprinter?
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Yes, that Looney, assured Moody.
“He put me onto Joga in the middle of last season,” Moody said. “Through high school and through college, I had been feeling aches and pains. A little tendinitis. But I’d do the Joga, and that’s been really big.”
Joga, according to jogaworld.com, “involves physical postures, breathing, and relaxation techniques. However, where the goal of Yoga is to become more flexible and spiritually aware, JOGA’s aim is to enhance performance, improve concentration, and reduce recovery time within the context of an athletic environment.”
Joga is a portmanteau word combining jock and yoga. Moody saw Looney lead the NBA in games played last season with 104 – all 82 in the regular season, 22 more in the postseason – and, aware of Looney’s history, felt this was an experiment worth trying.
Golden State Warriors
Looney practices it each morning before practice and now he has a disciple.
“I’m just following a lot of steps that he took,” Moody said.
Moody added that in addition to Looney, he has gotten help from the strength and training staffs. Upon arrival in the Bay Area after the 2021 NBA draft, he approached Dr. Rick Celebrini, the vice president of player health and performance about his untapped athleticism and told him of periodic knee soreness.
“If we get my knee fixed,” Moody recalls telling Celebrini, “I promise you there’s an athlete contained inside of me.”
Moody is raising eyebrows in practices and workouts by moving more quickly than he did last season dunking with authority. With Jordan Poole starting in place of Klay Thompson in Golden State’s three preseason games thus far, Moody was the first player off the bench in all three games.
When Moody scored 12 points in a preseason win over the Wizards last Sunday in Japan, his field goals were two 3-pointers, two dunks and one reverse layup. The shooting was no surprise. The flight time on the dunks came, oddly enough, came courtesy of one of his teammates.
If he didn’t nod and wink toward Looney, he probably thought about it.