PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 Jonathan Kuminga saw his opportunity and went for it.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Golden State Warriors forward had just crossed the half-court circle Friday night and took three left-handed dribbles before crossing over just above the free-throw line and switching the ball to his right hand. Portland Trail Blazers big man Donovan Clingan met him to try and cut him off, but Kuminga kept powering to the rim. He jumped up toward the rim, just above the restricted area arc, with the ball in his right arm as Clingan jumped up at the same time to try and block his shot.<\/p>\n
As Kuminga burst toward the rim, he threw down a hellacious dunk on top of Clingan that left Blazers fans oooohing and ahhhing in appreciation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened quick,\u201d Kuminga said after the Warriors\u2019 139-119 loss to the Blazers. \u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting me being that open when I took that first step, but I was up there, I was like, \u2018This is my chance to try him.\u2019 And obviously, I end up doing it, but it was lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dunk served as both the highlight of a lackluster night for a Warriors team that couldn\u2019t keep its defense together playing in its third game in four nights to start the season, and a reminder of the best non-Steph Curry part of the Warriors\u2019 first week of play. Kuminga, the man who dominated headlines all summer because of lengthy contract negotiations and a lingering uncertainty about whether he really wanted to stay with the Warriors and play for Steve Kerr, has been a major positive for the veteran-laden team.<\/p>\n
Kuminga put together his third straight solid performance in Friday\u2019s loss, scoring 16 points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out three assists and grabbing two steals. His activity has been noticed on both ends of the floor and his ability to make impact plays \u2014 in a variety of ways \u2014 has caught the eyes of teammates and coaches early in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecisive basketball,\u201d Curry said. \u201cTrying to make the right play. Understanding our sets and where he can attack, and he\u2019s doing a great job of it. I know the spotlight\u2019s gonna be on him consistently every night because of outside noise, but we love the way he\u2019s approached everything since training camp and expect more of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Kuminga\u2019s credit, since coming into camp, he has been focused on helping the Warriors however he can, a fact that hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed by many within the organization. Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler all expressed confidence that Kuminga would eventually arrive in camp and play up to the level they always believed he had within him. A week into the season, they have been proven correct.<\/p>\n
Arguably, the biggest single moment for Kuminga as far as his short-term future with the team goes came just over a week ago in the same Moda Center building. Just before halftime of an Oct. 14 preseason game against the Blazers, Kuminga drove toward the same rim where he dunked on Clingan \u2014 only that time he thought he got fouled and couldn\u2019t finish at the rim. He argued with veteran official Rodney Mott, was immediately ejected and was subsequently fined $35,000 for getting in Mott\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
At the time, Kerr said he loved the fire that Kuminga played with and \u201ckind of liked\u201d the ejection because of the energy Kuminga was showing in camp.<\/p>\n
A week and a half later, Kerr continues to sing Kuminga\u2019s praises when given the opportunity. Kerr said he likes the way Kuminga is passing and believes Kuminga is seeing the floor better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just like the approach,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI like the vibe that he\u2019s bringing. He\u2019s confident. He definitely feels like part of the team and what we\u2019re trying to do after all the contract stuff. I just think his teammates have been so good \u2014 Jimmy and Steph, Dray, all welcoming him back with open arms, reminding him that contract stuff is contract stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo JK\u2019s had a really good start to the season. I\u2019m proud of him, the way he\u2019s playing, and I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s ahead for him and for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether Kuminga \u2014 who signed a two-year $48.5 million extension with a team option in the second year a couple days into camp \u2014 stays with the Warriors long term remains to be seen. But what is clear a week into the season is that the work he put in with his trainer, Anthony Wells, over the summer is paying off. Kuminga\u2019s hot start is a reminder that as long as he continues to improve, he will either help the Warriors contend for the next championship the organization still believes is within its reach, or he will help them acquire other pieces as they try to reach that goal.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is it\u2019s better for all involved that Kuminga continues to play well. He will get the money, the respect that comes with it and likely, the role he wants \u2014 either with the Warriors or somewhere else \u2014 if he does. In the meantime, what\u2019s clicking for him early in the season is clear for all to see.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the way I\u2019m reading the game,\u201d Kuminga said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing. I had to go back and focus and learn and work on it just reading the game, being patient, knowing how people are guarding me and just focusing on playing defense and learning how to play certain people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 Jonathan Kuminga saw his opportunity and went for it. The 23-year-old Golden State Warriors forward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,8217,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-239567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}