Warriors: Why Jonathan Kuminga thinks he’s the ‘luckiest’ player
Kuminga, 19 became youngest player to start NBA playoff game Saturday
night vs. Grizzlies
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 7: Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan
Kuminga (00) and Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala (9) talk before
the start of their NBA game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Ray
Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 7: Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan
Kuminga (00) and Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala (9) talk before
the start of their NBA game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Ray
Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2022 at 4:13 p.m. | UPDATED: May 8, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/08/warriors-why-jonathan-kuminga-thinks-hes-the-luckiest-player/

SAN FRANCISCO — Coach Steve Kerr approached Jonathan Kuminga on Friday
to give the Warriors rookie some surprising news. He was starting in
place of the injured Gary Payton II for Game 3 of the Western Conference
semifinals.

Kerr advised Kuminga to keep playing the way he’s been. “You’ve been
good,” Kuminga recalled Kerr telling him. “I love the way you’ve grown.”

Kuminga, at the ripe age of 19, became the youngest player to start an
NBA playoff game Saturday night and joined the elite company of Kobe
Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Tony Parker as the only teenagers in NBA
history to score 18 or more points in a playoff game.

Overall, Kerr was pleased with Kuminga’s performance.

“He did a lot of good stuff out there,” Kerr said Sunday afternoon after
practice. “His defense was good, around the floor, he attacked, he got a
couple of easy buckets for us.”

But there’s still plenty of room for him to grow.

Kuminga had three turnovers in the first quarter. Kerr chalked up those
mistakes as him being “overly aggressive and “a little bit out of control.”

“He was just trying too hard to make a play when he really didn’t have
to,” Kerr said. “… But he’s a rookie and he’s constantly learning and
growing but he did a really good job.”

Earning the starting nod was a mega confidence boost for Kuminga.

“It motivates me every single day because if he’s starting me and
trusting me at this age, that puts me in a situation where… if I keep
putting in the same amount of work that I put in, it’s even going to
make me better,” Kuminga said. “Just him trusting me and starting me, I
feel like he put me in a situation where I need to keep up the work I do
every single day because that work puts me in a good situation.”

Most players drafted near the top of the first round of the NBA draft
see ample playing time during their rookie season. But then again, most
players aren’t drafted to franchises with a championship-proven core and
a stacked roster.

Kuminga, whom the Warriors picked No. 7 overall in last year’s draft,
has kept his blinders up all season to prevent himself from comparing
his situation to other 2021 NBA draftees.

“If I keep up with what other people are doing or whatever they’re
getting, it’s just going to mess my mind up, it’s going to make me want
to do certain stuff that’s not me or go out there to prove something
that I don’t need to be proving,” Kuminga said Sunday afternoon after
practice. “All I really need is just to be around here.”

Kuminga believes he’s the “luckiest” player of last year’s draft class
since he has the opportunity to develop alongside future Hall of Fame
players such as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Those
three players, alongside several other veterans including Andre
Iguodala, Kevon Looney and Otto Porter Jr., have advised Kuminga all
season as he tried to navigate the NBA being one of the youngest players
in the league.

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As Kuminga’s role fluctuated between starter to not playing at all
throughout the season, the Warriors rookie kept asking himself the same
questions.

“Do I deserve to go out there and play every single day? Do I deserve to
sit out?” Kuminga recalled Sunday afternoon after practice. “That kind
of helped me to put myself in a spot where I just need to keep working
and listen to everybody, my coaches, my teammates, and just trusting the
process.”

That patience and willingness to accept criticism from those around him
has paid dividends in terms of his development this season. Kuminga
started 12 of his 70 games during the regular season, averaging 9.3
points and 3.3 rebounds.

“I wanted to go out there and … play a lot of minutes every single day
but in life you gotta be patient, you’ve got to wait for your moment,”
Kuminga said. “I was just patient and staying true to myself and keep
working hard.”

And he views Saturday as another stepping stone in his career.

--
Madeline Kenney | Warriors reporter