It's all coming together for Jonathan Kuminga. The 20-year-old continued his steady, season-long ascent on Wednesday in the Golden State Warriors' crucial 127-125 win over the Dallas Mavericks, finishing with a team-high 22 points, three rebounds and two steals off the bench.
Kuminga shot 9-of-11 from the field and drained two of his three tries from deep against Dallas, exercising judicious shot selection and an opportunistic offensive approach that's quickly turned him into an efficient all-court finisher for Golden State. But the 20-year-old's biggest impact might have come on the other end, where a dogged, physical Kuminga hounded Luka Doncic across the floor, playing a pivotal role in the Mavericks superstar laboring to 30 points on 27 shots and five turnovers.
After the game, a beaming Steve Kerr gushed about Kuminga's ongoing two-way growth, which hit a crescendo during Golden State's finished five-game road trip.
“Probably the best five-game stretch of his career because the game looks like it is coming simpler for him and easier somehow. He's more at ease with himself on the floor at both ends. It's fun to watch,” Kerr said of Kuminga. “It's hard for young guys to come into this league and pick up everything that's being thrown at them, but he's done that. Here we are near the end of his second year, and he's just dramatically better than he was when he first arrived. Testament to him and his work ethic and his resilience in the face of a lot of adversity, a lot of difficult ups and downs.”
After falling in and out of the rotation early in 2022-23, Jonathan Kuminga has since cemented himself as an indispensable cog on the Warriors' push for back-to-back titles—an especially welcome development given Andrew Wiggins' multiple weeks-long absences. He's averaging 16.2 points on 62.3% from the field and 50% on triples over the last five games, helping the Dubs avoid a completely disastrous trip with star-turning performances in road wins over the Mavericks and Houston Rockets.
Golden State's preseason peak included Kuminga being good enough come playoff time to be a regular member of Kerr's closing five. It's become clear by now the Warriors won't be reaching their collective ceiling this season. But if the defending champs are able to make some real noise in the postseason, rest assured that Kuminga will have loudly announced his presence as a game-changing impact player—and future star—to a national audience.
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