While coaching the Warriors the past seven seasons, Steve Kerr has never really had to worry much about playing rookies or inexperienced players. After all, Kerr inherited a team with arguably two of the best shooters of all-time. With the team always contending, the coach never had to rely much about playing high lottery picks.
Well, the past two seasons have been like the Upside Down in Stranger Things. What could go wrong has been that and worse. Lengthy injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson prevented the team from staying in contention, and the team was able to draft and acquire prospects with massive ceilings.
The organization managed to snatch Jonathan Kuminga with the seventh overall pick, someone who was still very much raw, but offered enormous upside. In doing so, Kuminga would not be given the same ample playing time his peers in the top-10 of his draft would have, since teams that drafted early usually were not contenders.
After Saturday’s practice, head coach Steve Kerr spoke about this challenge with the media, and how Kuminga had to navigate through a tough rookie year, being in and out of the lineup.
“I think that’s his biggest challenge is just dealing with the ups and downs because he’s had plenty of both, he’s so raw and talented that the sky’s the limit, but because of his lack of experience, he’s going to make mistakes. We just try to tell him it’s fine to make mistakes, that’s expected. Nobody could possibly come into the league at this age and pick up everything right away, so he’s done a great job of becoming more and more open and communicative and he’s getting better and better, you can feel it.”
The team and fans alike are all optimistic that Kuminga has the skillset to one day be an All-Star once the current guard turns over to the younger talent.
Staying the Course and Trusting the Process is Key for the Rookie
Getting frustrated during the tough moments are all part of human nature. The successful individuals are the ones who focus on their weaknesses and look to improve upon them, rather than becoming upset and letting the issues become reoccurrences.
Kerr elaborates on how the team is focused on keeping him on the right track when Kuminga encounters roadblocks.
“His good games come now more frequently, but there are still going to be lows, that’s all part of being a rookie, and we just have to keep his spirits up because when things go badly for him, he gets a little down and we just got to help him keep his spirit and his energy.”
Especially with the depth of Golden States’ roster, it is difficult for young, inexperienced guys to get many minutes unless the veterans are out. With Draymond Green out for an extended period of time, Kuminga has been allowed more opportunities to play, and that alone has built his confidence, hence the numerous double digit scoring games and the monstrous highlight dunks.
The good thing is Kuminga seems to understand that struggles are part of the process, as Warriors’ director of player development, Jama Mahlalela, recently told Mark Medina of NBA.com.
“Even if he didn’t have a good game or coach pulled him out or had a great game, he’s going to come into work the next day. That, to me, is the marker of success. This year is going to be up and down. We know that. He’s going to have great runs and tough times. That’s the reality for any young player. But it’s the perseverance through that is going to make him special.”
All being said, it sure seems like Kuminga is simply just going through the growing pains as a rookie. Under the tutelage of such premier players like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala, it would not be surprising if we see Kuminga as part of the primary rotation sooner rather than later.
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Warriors’ Steve Kerr Gets Honest on Promising Rookie’s ‘Mistakes’