It's hard to get fired up about anything involving Jonathan Kuminga's reunion with the Golden State Warriors.

Instead of a spirited revenge game full of bad blood, all we got from the two sides were hugs and uninspiring performances. On one end, we got an ugly Warriors performance as they fell 126-110 to the Atlanta Hawks. And on the other, Kuminga went 1-of-9 for two points, four rebounds, two turnovers, and a -6 plus/minus in 22 minutes.

Unless you enjoyed Dyson Daniels' 28 points and the Hawks' 48-16 run between the second and third quarter, the Kuminga-Warriors reunion was mostly chalk.

“It felt like a normal game,” Kuminga said at his locker after the game. “Just excited to see my old teammates and some of my guys out there. It was great, and I was happy to see them.”

That happiness was visible as Kuminga spent a long time after the game high-fiving his former teammates, hugging his old coaches, and talking to his past veteran teammates. He talked to Stephen Curry the longest, with the two catching up at halfcourt post-game. And in the locker room, Kuminga shouted out Draymond Green, explaining the nice moment they shared when he first entered the game.

“That's my vet, that’s my OG,” Kuminga said. “You know me and Draymond’s connection is always there, that brotherhood is always there. We were just catching up.”

Jonathan Kuminga's relationship with Steve Kerr

Kuminga even dapped up and hugged Steve Kerr, despite all the differences the two had regarding his fit and role with Golden State. Kerr has always maintained that the difficulties in their relationship have always been strictly basketball and nothing personal, something he reemphasized before the game.

“I like Jonathan. We always got along well,” Kerr said. “The basketball part was the hard part. We couldn’t quite offer him what he needed, and vice versa.  We were a championship team — he needed really a lot of freedom and 35 minutes to make mistakes and grow and learn because he came in with very little experience, and we just couldn’t offer him that — bottom line.”

As for how Kuminga feels about their relationship, it's a little more hazy. When presented with an abbreviated version of Kerr's comments from above, Kuminga shrugged his shoulders and threw up his hands.

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“Hey man, listen– whatever they say, you can take it however you want to,” Kuminga said. “I am not worried about the past. I’m here, I’m very happy where I’m at. I’m doing great. Our goal is to get where we want to get, and that comes up to us as a team. And I think that's just my main focus going forward. Whatever is being said or whatever is going on, that’s not my problem anymore. I’m into the next chapter with teammates, and we’re trying to build something here.”

That next chapter seems to be going alright so far. Hawks coach Quinn Snyder said pregame that Kuminga has made an effort to fit in with what Atlanta wants to do. And what they've asked of him is simple, “defend and run,” Snyder told reporters, a similar thing Kerr and the Warriors asked of Kuminga during his Golden State tenure.

All love in the end

Regardless, while Kuminga and Kerr's basketball disagreements strained their relationship to a breaking point, he's still wishing the best for the young forward. As Kerr maintained, it was never personal between the two. Just an unfortunate situation in which neither side got what they needed.

“We offered him what we could,” Kerr said. “Which was 25 minutes and a role that he didn’t love. And it was never comfortable for either party on the basketball floor… We had our share of conversations about basketball that we had our differences, but on a personal level, we all root for him here. Well-liked in our locker room. And I’m sure the guys are looking forward to seeing him.”

And based on Kuminga's warm reception post-game, it seems like the bonds he forged with Curry, Green, and the rest of the Warriors will persist as they go their separate ways.

“I talk to most of them,” Kuminga said. “I try as much as I can. But I’ve still got great friendship and connection like they’re my brothers. I could call them at any time if they need something, and they could call me anytime if they need something, so I think that shows a lot. Our relationship is very strong, and we’re brothers at the end of the day.”