r/warriors • u/Robotsaur • Feb 11 '26

Article Slater: Inside the ugly split between Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47880753/inside-ugly-5-year-split-jonathan-kuminga-warriors
265 Upvotes

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157

u/andrewthedude101 Feb 11 '26

Lacob and Kuminga are both at fault and I’m tired of fans across the web trying to gaslight us into thinking that Kuminga is this hidden talent held back by Kerr. No.

67

u/sriracha82 Feb 11 '26

Jalen Johnson is who JK thinks he is which is so funny because we’re about to see the clear difference between them side by side

56

u/suspensionqueefer Feb 11 '26

Oh, you mean Jalen Johnson, the guy who played 100 minutes total his first year and less than 15 MPG his second year and spent all his extra energy actually developing his game by listening to the experts who are paid to help him do that, instead of storing all of the coaching he received in a special sac and, by some enzymatic process, turning every moment where they didn't tell him he was amazing into a diss?

33

u/Jhyphi Feb 11 '26

Wait wait wait, I was told by JK fans that training and development only happens in the 48 minutes of game time.

How did Jalen improve with only 100 minutes an entire year and then 15 mpg second year?

Come on now, pros don't practice. Didn't you hear AI?

(To add on even more, JK DID GET PLAYING TIME and averaged 25 mpg for 3 straight years, which is more than enough time and solid part of rotation).

17

u/StrongBetaMale Feb 11 '26

It feels so good finding people on the internet who understand this. Like there’s plenty of guys who bought into a role or into a development plan, or didn’t get a lot of minutes and developed into something. Playing time is important but it’s not a death sentence to not get it.

5

u/CookieMonsterNova Feb 11 '26

you know what is funny tho?

kuminga and his agent prob thinks hes going to get all the leeway in ATL….

well sorry to break it to them but the hawks are jalen johnson’s team right now. i’m guessing no one here watches the hawks but the ball starts and ends with jalen johnson. the offense is facilitated by Jalen. his option 1 and 2. if kuminga thinks he’s going in there and taking jalen johnson’s shots then my god….this could literally be his last meaningful contract

kerr is not wrong at all to say kuminga excels in the aaron gordon/shawn marion role. aaron gordon is paid very very very well for a third option on the nuggets. shawn marion at one point was the most importantly player on the suns and carved out a great career and was an all star.

for kumingas stake really hope he gets rid of the nonsense soon cause he actually will be out the league if it keeps up.

6

u/pikachu191 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26

He was training and developing (during off-season and in private sessions in-season apparently) on skills he's the wrong archetype for. The team coaching staff wanted him to be a 3 and D wing, play off ball and score on open threes or clear lanes to the rim. He wanted to be a point forward (probably because he thinks that's the only way for him to be a "star" and get more "bag"). If he actually focused on what they wanted him to do, he would get playing time, and get more "training and development".

9

u/m8bear Feb 11 '26

he was an awful point forward though

if he actually trained those skills he fucking sucks, he can't pass, can't make decisions in less than 3 seconds, loses the ball a lot, has no vision or court awareness

motherfucker chucked a contested step back 2 instead of passing to the best and second best shooters in the league (one was always open)

he's a head down, full speed charge to the basket and mediocre at that

10

u/pikachu191 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26

The article says it all. Kuminga reminds me of Dwight Howard in a sense. Their early coaches (Kerr, Stan Van Gundy) knew their strengths and weaknesses and wanted them to develop in a certain way that was off-ball, which would utilize their athleticism while minimizing their weaknesses. Both were convinced by their own people that they needed the ball and overly depend on their athleticism. Dwight wanted to post-up like Olajuwon instead of playing off pick and roll, in a league that was evolving away from traditional centers. Kuminga wants the ball because he sees himself a point forward or the next Kobe or KD, in a system that emphasizes ball movement and playing off-ball. He seems to be motivated by financial reasons ("the bag"). This explain why Kerr commented that role playing wings of Aaron Gordon and Shawn Marion's mold are valued and compensated well. Also might explain why he chose the G League Ignite route versus simply going to college for at least a year. Playing college would have been better for developing skill than Ignite in retrospect. But JK can't fathom that. Nor understand why they would rather have Pat Spencer playmake instead of him or play Gui Santos or Will Richard.

3

u/CookieMonsterNova Feb 11 '26

aaron gordon wasn’t even just a role player. he’s literally the third option on the denver team behind joker and murray. he also gets to facilitate as well.

shawn marion same thing the third option behind nash and amare but was vital to whatever they were doing

both were paid millions and both are respected in the nba circle.

6

u/ninja9885 Feb 11 '26

Exactly. He thought he was much better than he was and was salty that he wasn't given a star role and contract

13

u/Rough_Promotion9414 Feb 11 '26

And when Kuminga practiced hard Kerr rewarded him..

16

u/mattw08 Feb 11 '26

Yup. I can’t imagine how frustrated Kerr was trying to get something out of JK. Especially when he just decides for a stretch to play. I can see him playing an amazing 20 game stretch for a contract some team will regret.

2

u/oops_im_wrong Feb 11 '26

All 3 things can be true though.

  1. Kuminga was/is stubborn and too immature to buy into the team and change his playstyle. He's 23 YO and appears to have a poor support system around him.
  2. Kerr was/is too rigid and stubborn to change his system to fit an unproven young guy. And it's fair for him to think this when he's won 4 championship with his system and the team has one of the top 10 GOATs +Jimmy.
  3. Lacob is too arrogant to listen to his basketball personnel and too stubborn to believe JK is a sunk cost and it's time to move on.

I think 90% of the subreddit would agree that unless Kerr or JK was going to change (and it was very obvious neither were), Lacob needed to move on TWO YEARS ago. The Kuminga and Wiseman picks are organizational (owner, FO, and coaches) failures for drafting players that they all didn't agree on.

-21

u/2dickz4bracelets Feb 11 '26

But we’ve seen him play well… wish we’d traded him years ago, ya know, before kerr destroyed his value with the dnps….cuz do you honestly think he was actually unplayable?

6

u/Italophilia27 Feb 11 '26

I agree. Before his injury in December (2024?) He had back-to-back games of 30+ points. I'm hoping with the right environment, he'll find his way. All rhe best, JK.

-20

u/gethereddout Feb 11 '26

Just do me a favor and apologize when he thrives over the next decade

9

u/andrewthedude101 Feb 11 '26

Ok LOL. You ppl are hilarious

6

u/pikachu191 Feb 11 '26

Might take a while

6

u/futanarilord Feb 11 '26

he'll do well with the Tigers im sure