Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga surprisingly didn’t play a single minute in his team’s 124-119 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at Chase Center on Sunday. Kuminga’s benching in the Warriors’ most important game of the season thus far raised eyebrows, and Stephen Curry spoke postgame on what he hopes to see from him moving forward.
“Just to be ready,” Curry said. “It’s the test of a young player in this league and, especially with our team. You never know when your moment will be there at the brightest and highest of moments. So, it wasn’t his time tonight, and against Memphis, it could be a game where he makes his presence felt.
“So, don’t let noise outside of the locker room, the attention that might come from it, distract you from your ability to make an impact when your number is called,” Curry added. “We saw this summer, DNPs all over the place. You got to be able to be ready.”
This 2024-25 season has been a rollercoaster for Kuminga. The 22-year-old was initially a starter, but was then made a reserve after just three games. He was briefly reinserted into the lineup later, but was pushed back to the bench soon after.
Kuminga, who averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2024-25, had also seen his minutes fluctuate a lot over the course of the campaign. So, it wouldn’t have been a shock if head coach Steve Kerr only had him out there for a little while against the Clippers.
Not playing him at all was quite an interesting decision, though, as this was Kuminga’s first DNP this season. He had played more than 10 minutes in all but one of the games he had been available for this season, but didn’t even come off the bench in such a hugely important contest.
Had the Warriors beaten the Clippers and secured a spot in the playoffs, this might not have been a huge talking point. They lost, though, and are now in the play-in tournament, where they’ll take on the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
The Warriors might need Kuminga to be at his best against a very athletic Grizzlies team, but you wonder what state of mind he’s in right now. The benching would have been a huge blow mentally, and it will be interesting to see how he responds, provided Kerr does play him in that game.
Kerr spoke about Kuminga’s DNP postgame and stated it didn’t mean he was out of the rotation moving forward. He also revealed he had informed the forward before the game against the Clippers that the Warriors weren’t going with their usual rotation.
Kerr hadn’t told Kuminga that he won’t be playing, though, and you’d imagine he’d have expected to feature for at least a short period of time. That didn’t end up being the case.
Kuminga is going to be a restricted free agent this offseason, and with all that has happened during his Warriors tenure, you wouldn’t blame him for wanting to be elsewhere. The Warriors won’t be letting him walk for nothing, but it sure doesn’t seem like he’ll be with the team for too much longer.
