Recently, the Golden State Warriors opted to make a change at the NBA trade deadline by sending Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. The move brought the bizarre Kuminga saga in the Bay Area to an end, with head coach Steve Kerr frequently keeping the former lottery pick out of his rotations despite the team's need for athletic two-way wings.
Now, more information is coming to light on just how hot the simmering tensions between Kuminga and Kerr got.
One incident reportedly occurred on December 10, when Kerr met with Kuminga about his absence from a team-requested event, as well as the fact that they suspected him of taking too much food from the family room.
“Inside Kerr's office that afternoon, exasperation boiled over. The discussion went from small picture to bigger picture. Frustrations were let out on both sides — Kerr voicing his displeasure with Kuminga's lack of buy-in and competitiveness toward the team goals and Kuminga letting out his hurt about Kerr's longtime lack of belief in him as a player,” reported Anthony Slater of ESPN.
Slater also noted that “The meeting ended, sources familiar with the exchange said, with Kerr slamming his white board in frustration.”
Tensions between Kerr and Kuminga had been building for a while, with many fans wondering why the talented forward was seeing such little playing time despite the lack of talent elsewhere on the roster.
Now, he'll have a chance to show off his skills with the Hawks, another team in need of some firepower on the wings at both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, the Warriors will be hoping that Porzingis is able to stay healthy for them for the rest of this season, as he would, in theory, check a lot of boxes for the team on both offense and defense.
The Warriors will next take the floor on Wednesday vs the San Antonio Spurs.
