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After The Athletic reported on January 5 that Jonathan Kuminga has “lost faith” in Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors coach gave the disgruntled young forward a season-high 36 minutes of playing time, including playing him the whole fourth quarter.
“Those things are better discussed behind the scenes,” Kerr said of the Kuminga report via The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “Any time something like that goes public, it creates a distraction.”
“I talked to our whole team about this. Got an issue? I’m here. I am the most accessible coach in the league, probably. My door is always open. I have players all the time come talk to me, and I encourage it.”
But Kerr tried to lighten the mood, joking about his frustration about his playing time during his 15-year NBA career.
Steve Kerr-Jonathan Kuminga Meeting
Kerr and Kuminga met personally to iron things out after the report surfaced.
“I think it went really well,” Kuminga told The Athletic. “I think it was just all about better understanding of each other. More communication. We don’t really get to sit together as much and communicate about pretty much non-basketball things, basketball things. We don’t get to do that as much. Just us having that conversation today made me more comfortable that any time I have something to ask, I should just go up to his office. His door is open. Go up there and chill and wait for him to come back whenever.
“I think that’s what it’s all about, communication every single time if something is going wrong. Communication is the key.”
Kuminga sported a new hairdo and delivered 11 points and 6 rebounds in his 12th straight start. The 21-year-old forward took the toughest assignment of defending former no. 1 pick Cade Cunningham.
He finished with a game-high plus-16 for the Warriors, who leaned on Stephen Curry’s clutch 3-pointers to fend off the last-placed Detroit Pistons 113-109 on Friday, January 5, at Chase Center.
Warriors Are ‘Dark Horse’ in Pascal Siakam Sweepstakes: Insider
The Warriors have emerged as a dark horse in the Pascal Siakam sweepstakes, according to TNT/Bleacher Report’s NBA insider Chris Haynes.
“There’s a [dark] horse team out there that I’ve been told by rival executives to look out for. Not to say that anything is going down now but the Golden State Warriors,” Haynes said on January 5. “What’s going on over there? There’s some turmoil going on, not just Draymond Green. You know [about] Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody. Right now, the Warriors are trying to figure out what they’re going to do with Moses Moody.”
Moody returned to Kerr’s rotation after Chris Paul left Friday’s win with a fractured left hand.
The Warriors have been dealing with serious team issues from Green’s indefinite suspension to Kuminga and Moody’s frustrations about their lack of consistent roles.
“All is not well, in the Bay area right now. And so, Pascal Siakam I was told could end up being on the Golden State Warriors’ radar. So, [I’m] not saying that’s happening now. But that’s something to keep in mind when you’re talking about dark horse,” Haynes added.
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