Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga: ‘I Love It Here’ and ‘Never Complained’ in Kerr Meeting
Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIJanuary 6, 2024
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga told reporters that he loves playing with his current team amid the aftermath of a report that he had “lost faith” in head coach Steve Kerr.
“I love it here,” Kuminga said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
“I got drafted here. There’s always ups and downs. I feel like when you look at all the ups and downs, that will confuse a lot of people. But I know Steve believes in me. I know he trusts me at this point. It was just more about communication and better understanding.
“It was no beef. None of that. Scratch whatever happens. It’s the past. Move on with better understanding and hope we all can work with each other and help this team and leave everything in the past.”
Slater and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Thursday that Kuminga “no longer believes Kerr will allow him to reach his full potential.”
A source told the Athletic duo that “(Thursday night) was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
On that night, the 21-year-old finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, four rebounds and four assists but played just 19 minutes and none at all in the fourth quarter of a 130-127 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
For the season, the third-year pro has played 22.5 minutes per game, starting 12 of his 33 contests. He’s posted 12.8 points on 50.6 percent shooting and 4.1 rebounds.
On Friday, head coach Steve Kerr admitted that he needed to play Kuminga more.
“I’ve got to get him out there for longer, but these are really difficult decisions,” Kerr said before Friday’s 113-109 win over the Detroit Pistons, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
“Because it’s not just as simple as how many minutes a guy plays. It’s who’s playing, what’s the combination, what’s happening in the game.”
Ultimately, it appears on the surface that the coach and player have patched things up after clearing the air in a meeting between the Denver and Detroit games.
“I think it went really well,” Kuminga said regarding his talks, per Andrews.
“I think it was just all about better understanding of each other. More communication. We don’t really get to sit together as much and communicate about pretty much non-basketball things, basketball things. We don’t get to do that as much. Just us having that conversation today made me more comfortable that any time I have something to ask, I should just go up to his office. His door is open. Go up there and chill and wait for him to come back whenever. I think that’s what it’s all about, communication every single time if something is going wrong. Communication is the key.”
He also made clear that he “never complained about playing time.”
“I never complained about playing time (during the meeting),” Kuminga said, per The Athletic. “We were just talking about if I do great at something, just go back and remind him, ‘Yo, coach, what do I need to do to get better at this? What do I need to do to gain more trust or more minutes?’ Like I said, it’s more about communication and better understanding from both of us.”
Kuminga saw nearly double the playing time against the Pistons, posting 11 points and six rebounds in 36 minutes. He’ll look to help the Warriors get back to .500 (18-18) when they host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
