Getty Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga looks on during a preseason bout with the Washington Wizards.
For the most part, the first several games of the Golden State Warriors‘ 2022-23 season haven’t yielded a ton of surprises. Stephen Curry is doing Stephen Curry things, Klay Thompson is still finding his feet after a cautiously-approached summer, Andrew Wiggins is following through on his promise to board it better, Draymond Green and Jordan Poole are making nice, et al.
That said, the team’s one big unknown entering opening night — how Steve Kerr would distribute the minutes in his new-look second unit — has yielded a jaw-dropper
After his strong run in February and March of last season, many among Dub Nation wondered whether Jonathan Kuminga might actually be the team’s best prospect. And coming into the current campaign, it was largely expected that he’d be given a greater opportunity to display his talents. So far, though, that hasn’t happened.
As of this writing, Kuminga is averaging just 10.8 minutes per contest, and he’s fresh off of a DNP-CD in Thursday’s win over the Miami Heat. In the wake of the baller’s unexpected benching, Steph served up his assessment of the situation.
Steph Urges Kuminga to Stay the Course
During his post-game presser, Curry made it clear how he’d like Kuminga to respond after finding himself glued to the bench.
Very clearly, he’s all about that dog mentality.
“I hope he’s pissed off about it,” Steph confessed. “I hope he’s frustrated because that’s what’s going to make it more worth it when it comes his way.”
As Curry sees it, what Kuminga is going through is just part of the process of being a young player; something that almost no one manages to avoid. That includes the entirety of the Warriors’ veteran core, too.
“Maybe there’s some comparisons to… even me, Draymond and Klay, like, what we went through our first couple years. I got a couple DNPs my rookie year, and then we weren’t really playing for nothing after December, January and I got some burn. Klay was playing behind Monta [Ellis] for a while. Draymond was playing behind [David Lee].
“There’s guys that are who we are now with having been patient and just kept our heads down at the beginning of our careers.”
Curry understands that Kuminga may not see Steph’s early struggles and his own as being commensurate; he’s an eight-time All-Star, a four-time champ and a GOAT candidate, after all. But the Warriors cornerstone is doing his best to encourage Kuminga to stay ready for his next opportunity nonetheless.
“When you see the finished product or the ‘now’ product, it’s hard to tell somebody, ‘Hey, 12 years ago I went through a similar situation,’ because we’ve had success and won championships and he’s tasted a little bit of that. But that’s all you can do is keep preaching that, knowing that that’s how the league works. Things change really quickly,” Curry said.
“He’s put in a lot of great work, great approach to it and he’s playing for a coach that really is gonna maintain that perspective of ‘your time is coming.’ It’s not like you’re getting demoted or anything. Just be patient — we’ve all gone through it and his time is gonna come.”
Potential Problems?
While Curry and Co. have made keeping Kuminga engaged amid his reduced work load a priority, one Western Conference executive sees the potential for problems should the former No. 7 pick remain on the outside looking in for too long.
“The guy you worry about is Kuminga,” the exec told Heavy Sports‘ Sean Deveney.
“The stuff that was said about him, about his work ethic and all of that, the reality is, he wasn’t playing, and he was frustrated. Everyone knew it last year. With the Warriors, they have been lucky that everyone that they have kind of falls in line. [Moses] Moody, [James] Wiseman, I think those guys get it. But Kuminga wants to play.”