By most accounts, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga had a pretty meh summer league. After giving Dub Nation soft, fuzzy feelings throughout the latter half of the 2021-22 season, his performance in Las Vegas was decidedly drab.
Sure, he averaged 19.3 points across four games, but his shooting line of 41-20-47 was woeful. And after his summer league debut, Draymond Green clowned him for his lack of juice.
Nevertheless, the future remains bright for the athletic 19-year-old, who’s otherwise having a pretty incredible summer.
In addition to walking around with an NBA championship ring on his finger, the promising baller just earned some major bragging rights over Stephen Curry during a trip to Oakland Coliseum.
Kuminga’s First Pitch Flies True
.@JonathanKuming6‘s first pitch was better than @StephenCurry30‘s
🤣
Kuminga was on-hand for the opening of the Bay Bridge series between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. His objective: to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in style; something Curry failed to do just days earlier.
Leading up to his big moment, the former No. 7 overall pick was feeling some butterflies, tweeting, “Boy nervous asl hahaha.”
As seen in the video embedded above, however, he had little reason to feel that type of way. After stepping to the mound in a custom A’s jersey and a backwards hat, Kuminga fired a pitch that crossed the plate with ease.
First-base coach Eric Martins may have bobbled the ball in his mitt somewhat, but we’re going to go out on a limb and say that one was on him.
In any case, there’s no debating the fact that the throw put Curry’s to shame. Of course, the bar was set fairly low after Steph missed the entire batter’s box and sent A’s manager Mark Kotsay diving into the dirt with his throw.
In the wake of Kuminga’s first pitch triumph, he hit the tweet machine again, this time writing, “Not bad at all,” before thanking the A’s for the opportunity.
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The A’s Come Up Short in the End
Playing before a season-high home crowd of 40,065, Oakland was shooting for its third straight victory against a San Francisco squad that had just been swept by the LA Dodgers in a four-game series. And while that sounds like a winning recipe for the A’s, they settled back into their losing ways instead.
With Oakland trailing by just a single run in the top of the sixth inning, starter Adam Oller and reliever Kirby Snead surrendered back-to-back homers to the Giants’ LaMonte Wade Jr. and JD Davis, which blew the game open for the “road” team.
And while Skye Bolt came in to knock a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, it proved too little, too late for the A’s who lost the game 7-3 and fell to 41-67 on the season.
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Rising Warriors Star Just Schooled Steph With First Pitch