Recently, the Golden State Warriors continued their preseason slate with a road win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Many of the team's key players, including star point guard Stephen Curry, suited up for this game in preparation for the upcoming season, which is slated to begin in less than a week.
One key storyline coming out of this game was the ejection of Jonathan Kuminga. Kuminga was tossed right before halftime after vehemently arguing with an official, and on Thursday, the NBA announced the punishment it would be handing down.
“Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has been fined $35,000 for making inappropriate contact and continuing to pursue a game official, it was announced today by James Jones, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations,” reported NBA Communications on X, formerly Twitter.
Kuminga indeed appeared irate with what he felt was a missed call at that point in the game, and took that frustration with him to the locker room once he was tossed from the contest.
A key piece for the Warriors
The biggest storyline of the summer for the Golden State Warriors was the contract saga of Kuminga, who had long been known to be discontent in Steve Kerr's Stephen Curry-centric system.
Kuminga is back, at least for the 2025-26 season, and he'll look to expand upon some of the flashes he showed during the Warriors' playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last year, a series in which Curry was injured in the first half of Game 1 and was unable to return.
Kuminga did much of the heavy lifting on offense in that series, but it ultimately wasn't enough to win the Warriors a single game in Curry's absence.
Still, if he can come out playing with that same aggression this year while also understanding that when Stephen Curry is on the floor, the offense is not going to run through him, he could turn himself into a key contributor for a Golden State team that enters this season with high hopes.
The Warriors are set to kick off their 2025-26 season against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 21.
