Throughout the offseason, 95.7 The Game, the radio home for the Golden State Warriors, had a bit it called “Kuminga Crisis” — in which the deep-voiced speaker would put echo on each word, along with laser-beam sounds and various other hyping tones.
The hosts would then go about giving an update on the contract status of the enigma that is Warriors’ wing Jonathan Kuminga. And the bit was — there was never any new news as the player and the team were at a stalemate. Offers were on the table and the Warriors front office was pretty adamant that was their best offers.
Kuminga ultimately signed a two-year deal worth $48.5 million and the general consensus was the team would be looking to trade him as soon as they could.
But the 23-year-old may have finally figured it out and if the Kuminga we’ve seen through the first five games is any indication of his progress, the Warriors might be looking to add to the athletic guard/forward combo, instead of subtracting him.
The biggest Kuminga narrative over his first four years was about the things he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do. The description was always the same: an athletic freak, but …
But early in his fifth season, it’s looking like things are clicking. Head coach Steve Kerr said last year after the team traded for Jimmy Butler, amid a playoff push, that the two couldn’t play together.
But with 20-plus games last season and a full training camp this season, it certainly does look like they can play together. For the first time in his career, Kuminga seems to just be playing basketball, not thinking about what he has to do.
And his numbers are backing it up. He has started the first five games of the season — he started all of 10 games last year — and he has also been in the closing lineup in all five games as the Warriors have jumped out to a 4-1 start.
He’s averaging a career-best 30 minutes, has his best shooting percentage from the field (.537) and scoring a career-best 16.2 points per game.
But it is the two skills he has received most criticism for — rebounding and passing — that are way better. He has nearly doubled his rebounding average with 7.4 boards this season. Two years ago, he averaged just under five at 4.8. He is also averaging nearly 3.5 assists per game, after averaging less than two in his previous four seasons.
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Again, extremely small sample size. But early returns are looking good.
***
And speaking of small sample sizes and early returns: can we wait for the season to get a little deeper before we start anointing contenders and NBA playoff finalists?
Five games into the season and there is already breathless talk about the Warriors contending for a fifth title in the Steph Curry Era. Remember, Golden State got off to a 12-3 start last season and still had to come through the play-in tournament just to make the main NBA playoff field.
I understand a lot of this talk is driven by sports talk-radio and social media, but why does everything have to be so cut and dry? Are the Warriors title contenders? Who’s the GOAT, who’s a bust? Champ or chump?
What happened to nuance? Bay Area sports-talk radio and social media are a roller-coaster ride of emotion, regardless of the sport. San Francisco 49ers fans are crowing about a Super Bowl run after a win over Atlanta and then are ready to punt the season after a loss to the Houston Texans.
Warriors fans already had major questions after losing by 20 to Portland on the second game of a back-to-back last week, but are now saying another trip to the NBA Finals is looking likely after winning two in a row.
It really does put the “fan” in “fanatic.”
Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.
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