Category: Sports News

How Warriors plan to reintegrate Jonathan Kuminga upon return from injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jonathan Kuminga has missed the last four games with a knee injury and will need to be reintegrated in the Warriors’ rotation upon his return. 

The Warriors struggled to integrate Kuminga in his last return from injury in March of last season, as coach Steve Kerr questioned his fit with new arrival Jimmy Butler. 

However, veterans Butler and Draymond Green shared with ESPN’s Anthony Slater their ideas on how to effectively bring Kuminga back into the fold this time around.

It mostly depends on whether Steph Curry is on or off the floor. 

“The second that Steph is in the game is completely different than when Steph is out and I’m in the game,” Butler told Slater. “And if you’re still trying to run the Steph stuff, it’s not going to work. Nobody’s overreacting to anybody. I’m not saying ‘No, we should never do that.’ All I’m saying is Steph is the ultimate cheat code. 

As the Warriors return home from a six-game road trip, there should be ample time for team practices. Green notes that this will help Kuminga get back into the mix. 

“Guess what we can do when he’s coming off the bench?” Green said. “Feature him. That’s what he needs. But it takes some time. There’s been no practice. He’s got his knee. So let’s get healthy and we’ll put this together. It’s a long season. He’s going to help us win a f–king ton of games.” 

Butler acknowledged that Kuminga’s impact does not necessarily have to revolve around scoring. 

“I think with that though, he has to understand it doesn’t mean just score,” Butler said. “Because I don’t mind taking the back seat to him and letting him do his thing. And I’m down there in the dunker spot, I’m setting screens. I don’t mind. But you know what we better do?…” 

“…We better f–king win. That’s it. Whatever we want to do, I’m fine with it. It better be towards winning. Cause that’s all that I care about. I don’t care about nothing else.” 

Kuminga was taken out of the starting lineup after starting the first 12 games of the season. He came off the bench against the San Antonio Spurs after a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He exited the game against the Spurs with knee soreness, which has kept him out since. 

The lineup change came as Kerr tried to find a way to maximize Curry, Butler and Green. 

“We’ve got to put Steph, Jimmy and Draymond in a position to succeed,” Kerr said. “That’s what wins in this league. Everyone has their best two or three players. How well can you support them and enhance them?” 

Kuminga was able to provide that support and enhancement at the beginning of the season, and the Warriors hope to rediscover that upon his return. 

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Why Jonathan Kuminga leans on Jimmy Butler as shaky Warriors career continues originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jimmy Butler’s arrival to the Warriors in February brought questions about Jonathan Kuminga’s fit on the team. 

Those questions were put to rest momentarily at the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, as Kuminga played in the starting lineup alongside Butler, and the Warriors started hot out of the gate with a 4-1 record. 

A recent decline in production and a demotion back to the bench reignited those speculations for Kuminga. Through it all, the 23-year-old forward continues to lean on Butler’s mentorship, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater. 

“I feel like, in this league, he’s one of the people that actually [has] been in my shoes throughout their career,” Kuminga said. “And knows what I’ve been going through.” 

Amid Kuminga’s recent struggles on the court, Butler hosted his mentee at his home for dinner after Golden State’s win over the Indiana Pacers last week. 

“I realize that he listens to me,” Butler told ESPN. “He respects me. And I don’t ever take that for granted. But I’m always going to tell him the truth, too. And when JK doing some bulls–t, I’m going to tell him we can’t have that, man.” 
 
“I think everybody comes to that stepping-stone moment in their career where you know that you can get over that hump,” Butler said. “Some people are like, ‘Nah, you’re not ready for that yet.’ But you know better. I think that’s where he is. I was at that point.” 

During contentious offseason contract negotiations between Kuminga and the Warriors, Butler told ESPN that Kuminga reached out to the veteran. Kuminga told Butler that he would not be attending a minicamp at Butler’s home in San Diego. 

“Bro, that’s fine,” Butler told Kuminga. “You got to do what’s best for you. I understand the situation you’re in. I don’t think anybody on the squad got bad blood. I rock with you. I see a lot of myself in you.” 

Once Kuminga’s contract was resolved, his relationship with Butler continued throughout training camp. Butler worked with Kuminga on the side to help their on-court fit, as well as spending time with him off the court, according to Slater. 

“[Kuminga] was determined to do it and Jimmy was determined to help him with it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “For me as a coach, winning solves everything.” 

With some newfound turbulence, Butler’s mentorship can help steer the narrative back to the positivity that was present at the beginning. 

“I realize that he listens to me,” Butler said. “He respects me. And I don’t ever take that for granted. But I’m always going to tell him the truth, too. And when JK doing some bulls—, I’m going to tell him we can’t have that, man.” 

Even in the absence of the cure-all that is winning, Kuminga has someone to lean on to stay afloat as questions and rumors about him make the rounds. 

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Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga reportedly told Steve Kerr to coach him harder originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It is no secret that Jonathan Kuminga and Steve Kerr’s relationship has been rocky over the years.

But after Kuminga signed a two-year contract with the Warriors this offseason, the two appeared to be on the same page moving forward. It even reached a point where Kuminga actually encouraged Kerr to coach him harder, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater.

“Kuminga, team sources said, had voiced to Kerr a desire to be coached harder,” Slater wrote. “There was even a meeting about it in their Sacramento hotel prior to the ninth game of the season and Kerr appeared to make it a point during the Kings game to call Kuminga over and get on him constructively several times.”

Kuminga, at that point, was playing the best basketball of the season. He was doing the things Kerr and the Warriors had been asking of him for years.

The young wing was averaging 17.2 points on 51.4-percent shooting from the field and 41.4 percent from 3-point range through the first nine games, with 7.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists in 30.9 minutes.

But then Golden State suffered ugly consecutive road losses to the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks and short-handed Indiana Pacers.

Then the Warriors’ skid reached three straight losses with a deflating defeat to the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. After that loss, Kerr changed things up and pulled Kuminga from the starting unit.

“We’ve got to put Steph, Jimmy and Draymond in a position to succeed,” Kerr said. “That’s what wins in this league. Everyone has their best two or three players. How well can you support them and enhance them?”

Kuminga has missed the last four games with bilateral knee tendonitis.

But the Warriors still are focused on getting him back into the mix once he returns.

And whenever that might be, he can expect the hard coaching that he once encouraged to continue.

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How Draymond changed Steve Kerr's mind about Jonathan Kuminga lineup decision originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steve Kerr turned heads with his starting lineup against the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night of the 2025-26 NBA season.

Jonathan Kuminga, after four up-and-down seasons with the team and a frustrating restricted agency that lasted the entire summer, was in the starting lineup for Game 1.

The Warriors ended up beating the Lakers 119-109, as Kuminga scored 17 points with 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 32 minutes. He looked like the player Golden State has challenged him to be ever since he was selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and through one game, it appeared as if his offseason work had paid off.

Then came another huge test two nights later against the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center, which presented Kerr a difficult lineup decision.

ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported in a story published Thursday that Kerr, when deciding in between games who to start against Denver, called veteran forward Draymond Green, who started as the small-ball center against Los Angeles on opening night, and told him his gut feeling was to start second-year big Quinten Post against the Nuggets.

“Dray, this is the big center thing that we’ve talked about,” Kerr recalled to Slater about his conversation with Green.

“Well, who does that take out?” Green asked, according to Kerr.

“Probably Kuminga,” Kerr said.

“Let me start at center,” Green said. “I want JK to keep the momentum.”

Kuminga indeed kept the momentum, scoring 14 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists while posting a plus-8 plus/minus in 36 minutes in a thrilling overtime win vs. Denver.

There was nothing eye-popping about his performance on the stat sheet that night, but Kuminga’s hustle, aggression and improved decision-making were on display for a second consecutive game, which earned him the opportunity to close out the game with Green, Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Al Horford.

“He’d done everything that we asked him to do,” Green told Slater about Kuminga’s performance up to that point. “And when someone’s doing everything you ask them to do, the reward can’t be [pulling them from the starting lineup].”

Kuminga then started 10 more games before he was removed from the starting lineup on Nov. 12 against the San Antonio Spurs, where he only played 12 minutes before being pulled mid-game with bilateral knee tendonitis, which has sidelined him for Golden State’s last four matchups.

In 13 games (12 starts) this season, Kuminga is averaging 13.8 points, a career-high 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game on 47.8-percent shooting from the field and 32.4 percent from 3-point range.

Kerr and the Warriors had hoped the 23-year-old would return for Wednesday’s 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat before he, and four of Golden State’s veterans, were inactive, but it appears that he and the rest of his star teammates now all have a chance to play in Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center.

However, whenever Kuminga does return to the floor, what role will he have moving forward?

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Jonathan Kuminga reportedly ‘feels like the scapegoat again' with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Even after agreeing to a contract with the Warriors that ended a months-long stalemate, Jonathan Kuminga‘s fit with the team continues to be sorted.

Issues about his fit alongside Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were put to rest to begin the 2025-26 NBA season. So much so that Warriors coach Steve Kerr, one of the toughest critics of the four on the court together, was confident enough to plug Kuminga into the starting lineup for the first 12 games of the season.

Golden State began the season 4-1. The vibes were vibing.

Until they weren’t.

The Warriors then went 2-5 over their next seven games. The last one of the seven, a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, prompted Kerr to make a change to his starting unit. Among those changes was pulling Kuminga out and having him come off the bench.

One team source told ESPN’s Anthony Slater that Kuminga “feels like the scapegoat again.”

With the lineup change, the Warriors won a close one against the San Antonio Spurs. Kuminga was ruled out for the following game and has been sidelined ever since as he continues to deal with bilateral knee tendonitis.

This sparked speculation and conspiracies about Kuminga’s fit and future with the team. Again.

But Warriors players feel differently about the situation.

“Him not being in the lineup ain’t the reason that we’re winning,” Butler told Slater. “We’re just playing better basketball. Roles are clearer. We’re making shots. We’re guarding. That ain’t got nothing to do with him. If he was in the lineup, I still believe that we win these games.”

Slater also stated that if the Warriors want to reach their goal this season, there’s an “internal belief” that Kuminga must “shake off some of his built-up resentment” and focus on making an impact, even if, as Slater writes, the “long-term benefit for both sides is more about a bump in trade value than a partnership.”

Kuminga, who signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension that includes a team option for the second year, doesn’t become trade eligible until Jan. 15.

There still is time to figure things out internally, but in the meantime, speculation likely will continue externally.

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