SAN FRANCISCO – Following The Athletic's report that Jonathan Kuminga had lost confidence in Steve Kerr's ability to maximize his potential, the Golden State Warriors' third-year head coach and winger met before the 113-109 win on Friday night about the Golden State Warriors in Kerr's Detroit Pistons office.
Kuminga's latest disappointment came a night earlier, as he watched from the bench for the final 18 minutes – and particularly the agonizing final six minutes – as the Warriors squandered an 18-point lead over the Denver Nuggets in another losing gut punch.
Kerr's decision to limit Kuminga to 19 minutes and zero in the fourth quarter, even though he was already 16 points ahead and clearly relying on his downhill skills, came under scrutiny. Kuminga's seething emotions became public. Kerr felt a personal conversation was necessary. After the win over Detroit, Kuminga said the discussion had a positive impact.
“I think it went really well,” Kuminga said. “I think it was just about understanding each other better. More communication. We can't sit together so often and talk about things that actually have nothing to do with basketball, namely basketball topics. We can't do that that often. The fact that we had this conversation today made me feel like every time I want to ask something, I should just go to his office. His door is open. Go there, relax and wait for him to come back whenever you want. I think that's what it's all about: communication every time something goes wrong. Communication is key.”
Kuminga played a season-high 36 minutes against the Pistons. He didn't allow himself a single second of rest in the fourth quarter. He had 11 points and six rebounds and spent most of the crunch time as the primary defender for Cade Cunningham. It was his 12th consecutive game in the starting lineup, but Kuminga still hasn't played more than 30 minutes in consecutive games in his career. So the game time tracker will continue to be monitored.
“I never complained about playing time (during the meeting),” Kuminga said. “We were just talking about how if I'm great at something, I should 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 confidence or more minutes? Like I said, it’s more about communication and a better understanding between both of us.”
Kuminga's discomfort with his fluctuating role — dating back to the previous offseason, when he moved from a regular part of the rotation to a backup player in the final two months of the regular season after Andrew Wiggins returned from a long personal absence — has raised questions about him Future with the Warriors. Does he want to be with them long-term? Will he still be on the roster after the February 8 trade deadline? After Friday's meeting, how does he feel about his standing in the organization and with Kerr in general?
“I love it here,” Kuminga said. “I was drafted here. There are always ups and downs. I feel like if you look at all the ups and downs, it's going to 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 wasn't beef. None of them. Scratch whatever happens. It's the past. Let’s move forward with better understanding and hope we can all work together, help this team and leave everything in the past.”
What does this better understanding mean?
“Overall, it’s a better understanding of certain things on the field that I need to do to make the team better,” Kuminga said. “Who is he going with tonight or next night?” Who does he trust the most? As a coach, you talk about who you trust the most or who is currently doing the things you want as a coach. So it was just about these little things. When we sat together and talked about it, it went well.”
The core of the problem is the Warriors' inability to get Kuminga and Wiggins on the floor together. On Friday, they were a combined minus-66 in 131 minutes as a pair. The Warriors have an analytics department that provides the coaching staff with these numbers and thus partially influences their lineup selection. Because of this, Kerr remains hesitant to play his two bigger wings together, calling them a “superfluous” pairing.
But he tried to find time for them together against the Pistons. They lay on the floor together for six minutes. They topped Detroit by seven points. But Wiggins struggled with a 1-for-5 shooting night and didn't provide much else. So he was limited to 19 minutes and Kuminga got 36.
“I’m going to keep it serious,” Kuminga said. “I went to the coach and talked about playing with Wiggs. I don't want it to seem like Wiggs and I argue for minutes every day. I know Wiggs comes to work every day without thinking about it. Me too. I don't come to work every day thinking about keeping the logs of Wiggs and that guy. We come here to play well and help the team win and achieve things that we all care about as a team. Championship and all that. Whenever the team wins, everyone wins. When it comes to the future, it’s really about what the team needs first and then the rest.”
More minutes will become available in the Warriors' rotation in the near future. Chris Paul broke his left hand against the Pistons and will have surgery next week. He is out indefinitely. Kerr said that would give Brandin Podziemski, Cory Joseph and Moses Moody a chance. But it could also open the door to experimenting more with Kuminga and Wiggins' lineups.
Draymond Green's impending return from his indefinite ban will create a renewed logjam. But that’s another depth issue for another day.
“I’ve been there before,” Curry said of Kuminga. “He’s not wrong if he’s upset and mad and wants to play. Probably should have played. Probably not. … But the ultimate challenge for anyone in this league is not letting the story be told to you and not being able to address it in your own voice or directly with Coach or whatever. We all go through our challenges. We all go through our learning lessons. Like I said, he's not wrong to be upset and frustrated. I heard Coach talking about it. He was a bit joking, but serious. For 15 years he was always dissatisfied with the playing time. This is a topic of conversation in every locker room in some way, shape or form. There are ways to express this, express your opinion and protect the team at the same time. I'm just proud of the way he talked about it before the game. Go out and play. Go tires. Be a professional. And that’s what he did.”
(Photo of Jonathan Kuminga driving against Detroit's Isaiah Livers in the first half on Friday: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)