Getty Golden State Warriors rookie Jonathan Kuminga reacts after a made basket during a game against the Charlotte Hornets.
The Golden State Warriors took a skeleton crew to San Antonio for their Tuesday night road tilt with the Spurs. Despite being without Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and multiple others, the team was able to secure an incredible comeback victory.
For his part, rookie Jonathan Kuminga had one of the better games of his young career. In 29 minutes of play, the No. 7 overall pick put up 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 14 of which came as part of a wild, fourth-quarter run that turned what had been a 17-point deficit into a 124-120 win.
He also added three assists, three boards and a blocked shot while posting a plus-15 in the plus/minus department, the second-best mark of the night.
Kuminga showing out has become an increasingly normal occurrence, putting him on the level of other rising stars around the NBA. However, that didn’t appear to affect the selection process for the Rising Stars event at All-Star Weekend.
Neither Kuminga nor Moses Moody was selected for the Rising Stars player pool, and fans aren’t happy.
Fans React to the Kuminga Snub
Where Dub Nation is concerned, the fact that Clorox is the Rising Stars sponsor is probably apropos; a large portion of the fanbase is of the belief that Kuminga was done dirty by the omission.
“Kuminga kills whenever he gets the minutes, avg 19 and 7 per 36 on league avg efficiency. Not a rising star though lol ok,” tweeted one perplexed fan.
“Why the f*** wouldn’t they put Kuminga in the rising stars game?” raved a second tweet on the matter. “Can’t wait to watch herb Jones play some defence instead!”
“It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see that kuminga would have comparable stats to these other rookies if he were on a s*** team,” read a particularly spicy Reddit comment. “He’s gonna make the league look very stupid soon. F*** the nba.”
“Did Kuminga not meet some minutes or games played requirement to be a rising star?” wondered another fan, which leads us to what is likely the heart of the matter.
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Kuminga’s Late-Bloomer Status Probably Played a Factor
Where Moody is concerned, the rookie has spent the majority of his time this season either on the bench or in the G League. So his exclusion is wholly unsurprising, even as he has excelled with big minutes — as with his 20-point effort against the Spurs.
Kuminga, though, warranted more consideration.
In the end, his injuries and early lack of playing time probably came back to bite him. Over the last month-plus, however, there’s no doubting that he’s been one of the better rookies in the Association. During the month of January, he put up 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on shooting splits of 46-36-71.
Meanwhile, since Green has been out with injury, Kuminga has been a double-digit scorer.
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