The Ringer’s Zach Lowe was as perplexed as everyone else about why Jonathan Kuminga was bizarrely yanked out of the Golden State Warriors‘ rotation in their must-win games of the season.
“Benching Kuminga is an all-time like ‘Whoa’ in the biggest game of the year,” Lowe said on his podcast “The Zach Lowe Show” on April 14 after Kuminga’s first CD-DNP in the Warriors’ overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. “I disagree with [Steve Kerr] heartily on the way that he has handled Kuminga for years now.
“To do that in that game, in that spot and essentially say, ‘All of our problems are your fault and we’re going to play not a shooter in your place, we’re going to play another guy who doesn’t really take threes or space the floor in Gary Payton II and still play these three-man combinations, including closing with one that have three quote-unquote non-shooters in Draymond [Green], Jimmy [Butler] and GP2 and we’re not going to play you at all,’ I’m tempted to say there’s no coming back from that in terms of a team-player relationship.
“But there’s always a coming back because there’s always a next game and there’s always a limited restricted free agency market that the Warriors might win. But that was, even though the rumblings were starting and Steve had kind of laid the groundwork for a rotation change of that nature, [all-time like ‘Whoa’].”
Contrary to Lowe’s belief that it was just a one-time thing, Kuminga was benched again in the Warriors’ play-in victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Why Jonathan Kuminga Isn’t Part of Warriors’ Rotation
Kerr hinted at removing Kuminga from his rotation during a radio appearance in the days leading up to the Clippers game.
“Every game is different and I think Jimmy’s arrival took away a lot of Jonathan’s minutes at the four,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game’s Mark T. Willard and Dan Dibley on April 10.
Since Kuminga returned from a significant ankle sprain that cost him 31 games, his numbers and his role went significantly down. He averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 15 games post-injury off the bench. Worst, he only shot 21.1% from the 3-point line which made him unplayable next to Butler in Kerr’s eyes.
“There’s no doubt that as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into the lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning and Jonathan was out for that whole stretch,” Kerr continued. “We went like 17 and 3 or something, so we’re going to keep doing what’s been winning.”
“But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn’t fit really well, frankly. It just doesn’t,” Kerr admitted. “We need more spacing. We’ve found other lineups that have clicked, and this is just part of the deal, being in the NBA, and you’ve got to adapt to whatever’s happening with the team.”
‘Exhausted’ by Steve Kerr’s ‘Disrespect’
ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania reported on Wednesday, April 16, that Kuminga’s camp is “exhausted” by the disrespect after two straight CD-DNP (coach’s decision-did not play).
It remains to be seen if Kerr changes his stance when the Warriors meet the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Rockets are full of athletic players in Kuminga’s mold.
Kuminga averaged 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in four games against the Rockets this season. It’s Kuminga’s second-highest scoring average against any single opponent this season.
“They need him in this series because you think about the athletes that Houston has,” Charania said of Kuminga on the “NBA Today” on Wednesday. “This is why they drafted Jonathan Kuminga. This is why they put so much trust in him. But back-to-back games in this play-in tournament, Steve Kerr essentially tells Jonathan Kuminga, ‘You are not in our rotation. You are not going to be playing.’
“And this is something that Jonathan Kuminga has been really immune to over the course of his career with Steve Kerr and the Warriors. His side is exhausted by a lot of disrespect in a lot of ways.”
Warriors’ Bizarre Move Is ‘All-Time Like Whoa,’ Says NBA Analyst