The basketball world was abuzz again with reports that Golden State Warriors young forward Jonathan Kuminga had lost faith in head coach Steve Kerr. This development came to light after Kuminga was benched for the final 18 minutes of their game against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, despite scoring 16 points during his time on the court.
Kerr justified his decision to bench Kuminga, stating that the team had a significant lead when he substituted Kuminga with Andrew Wiggins. Despite the team eventually losing the lead and the game, Kerr maintained that he preferred to stick with the group that had initially gained the large lead.
“He was playing great. His normal time to go back in would have been around the five-, six-minute mark (of the fourth). (Andrew Wiggins) was playing great, we were rolling, were up 18, 19, whatever it was. So we just stayed with him. Then at that (later) point, it didn’t feel like the right thing to do. He had been sitting for a while. So I stayed with the group that was out there, and obviously, we couldn’t close it out.”
In the wake of these reports, numerous reactions and comments have emerged about the situation between Kuminga and Kerr. One significant response came from Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, who spoke about the issue following their victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
“He’s not wrong in being upset and pissed off. Wanting to play. Probably should’ve played. Not probably… The ultimate challenge for anybody in this league is to not let the narrative be told for you and you not being able to address that with your own voice or directly with coach.”
Steph Curry on the story about Jonathan Kuminga’s frustrations:
“He’s not wrong in being upset and pissed off. Wanting to play. Probably should’ve played. Not probably… The ultimate challenge for anybody in this league is to not let the narrative be told for you and you not… pic.twitter.com/hx1PYpxplh
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 6, 2024
