Jonathan Kuminga picked a bad night to have a G League stinker.
Back on Jan. 10, a scheduling quirk put both the Golden State and Santa Cruz Warriors in the Memphis area. Golden State had a night off, but the Sea Dubs were in action. The official attendance that night at Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi, was only 251. But Steve Kerr and the Golden State coaching staff were a few of the people in the building.
While fellow rookie Moses Moody exploded for 37 points in 35 minutes against the Memphis Hustle, Kuminga’s game was ugly. He lacked consistent effort, played lazy defense at times and went 3-of-12 from the field. Final line: nine points, six fouls and five turnovers. Kuminga eventually fouled out with less than a minute left in a tie game, earning his sixth whistle just seconds after turning the ball over on a bad pass.
As it turns out, that was probably Kuminga’s last time in a Santa Cruz uniform. Kuminga was inactive the next night as the Memphis Grizzlies hosted the Warriors. But he returned to Kerr’s rotation on Jan. 13 in Milwaukee before exploding for 25 points in 25 minutes while going 10-of-12 in a rout against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 14. He hasn’t looked back since.
Jump to Friday morning and Kuminga was taking questions in Cleveland before the 6 p.m. PT tip-off in the NBA's All-Star Rising Stars competition.
“I’m super excited,” Kuminga said. “It’s a blessing. A lot of people don’t get to be here, but I made it today. It’s a blessing. I’m going to enjoy it as much as I can.”
Following that eye-opening performance against the Bulls in January, Kerr said about Kuminga, “What I liked about the last two nights is that it’s the hardest I’ve seen him run the floor on consecutive nights.”
That’s not a coincidence. It goes back to the lackadaisical effort he showed in the Jan. 10 game in Mississippi and subsequent conversations with Kerr and his staff.
“That night was a little unique,” Santa Cruz Warriors coach Seth Cooper said. “Steve Kerr was there, Mike Brown was there, Jama [Mahlalela] was there, a bunch of guys from the Warriors coaching staff were watching and got to spend some time with him after that game.”
After immigrating from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the United States at the age of 13 and darting around to three prep schools, Kuminga played in just 13 G League games before the Warriors selected him with the No. 7 overall pick in last year’s draft. Nowadays, Golden State looks like it unearthed an unpolished gem.
Kuminga yo-yo’d between Santa Cruz and Golden State to start the season, getting valuable run with Cooper when he’d otherwise be sitting for Kerr.
“You never knew exactly how it would play out, but I think everyone thought there was this definite possibility that if he got the time and he progressed, he’d have a chance to really make an impact with the Warriors this season,” Cooper said. “It’s been great to see him take that opportunity and run with it. … I do think him playing extended minutes with us earlier this year when he wasn’t playing as much with the Warriors had a positive impact.”
The Rising Stars game is cool and all, but Cooper is more happy that Kuminga is helping the Warriors win this season.
“I’m even more proud of him and excited about how he’s been able to really contribute recently, especially with Draymond [Green] out, and impact them on winning,” Cooper said. “That’s something that I’ve been really excited to see, and something that’s separated him from these other rookies that put up bigger numbers and have had the opportunity to play a lot more and shoot a lot more, but are on teams that aren’t as good.”
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Kuminga is starting to come into his own, as his 18-point, nine-rebound game against LeBron James and the Lakers on Saturday will attest. Since his promotion last month, Kuminga is averaging 12.4 points and 21.5 minutes in 19 games. He’s shooting 53.8 percent from the field in that span with 4.4 rebounds per game and has carved out a regular role in the rotation. Kerr told 95.7 The Game this week that Kuminga has earned a spot in the upcoming playoff rotation.
He’s not in Mississippi any more.
“[It’s important] for him just to realize how hard you have to play at all times, whether it’s an NBA game, G League game, practice or workouts,” Cooper said. “You hear Draymond talk about it, that’s something he’s seen from Jonathan that’s been able to progress. I’m sure some of those G League games and moments did help for some of the successes and development to this point.”
Kuminga is one of the game’s most explosive athletes and is proving himself to be a versatile defender. Listed at 6-foot-7, 225 pounds, Kuminga has guarded LeBron, big men like 6-foot-11 Nikola Jokic and shifty guards like 6-foot-2 Reggie Jackson in the past week. If there’s one area where it seems Kuminga can improve, it’s rebounding, as he’s averaging just 2.8 boards per game in 47 appearances with Golden State.
“For him, it’s a little bit of a mindset,” Cooper said. “Physically, he’s very capable. I know Steve and the coaching staff talked to him about that earlier and you saw a little spike in it. As he realizes exactly how the NBA game’s played and all the different situations, I think he’ll become more aware of opportunities where he can go rebound. I think he can make that a focus.
“Right now, there’s so much that he’s thinking about during a possession, let alone a game. As he gets more comfortable with that and can narrow his focus and get his mindset towards rebounding, I don’t think there’s any reason he can’t be a really productive rebounder at the NBA level.”
As the NBA continues to shift toward position-less basketball, Cooper is excited to see where Kuminga lands. On an All-Star weekend in the near future, Kuminga might be playing in the main event on Sunday night.
“With his size, athleticism and skill level, that’s kind of the way the NBA game’s been going,” Cooper said. “He’s very versatile both offensively and defensively. Exciting to look at what he can do in the future, but also what he can do going forward this year on a team with obviously very high aspirations.”
