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<\/p>\nCHICAGO \u2014 Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga did not play in Sunday night\u2019s 123-91 win over the Chicago Bulls. It was the first time all season the 23-year-old was available to play and did not see the floor.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because of the way our team looks,\u201d Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. \u201cAnd Jimmy came back tonight, JK started last night, they play the same position. I like the group the last couple of nights, the bench group. Gui (Santos), Pat (Spencer), (De\u2019Anthony Melton) in Philly. We got a lot of bodies. And so with Jimmy (Butler) coming back tonight, it made sense to play the other guys \u2019cause they complement him really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a strong start to the season that saw Kerr make him a full-time starter, Kuminga has struggled to find consistency within his game. He was taken out of the starting lineup before a win Nov. 12 over the San Antonio Spurs, then missed seven games because of a knee injury. Kuminga came into Sunday night\u2019s game just 8-for-32 from the field in his last three games, including 1-for-10 in Saturday night\u2019s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Still, the decision to take him all the way out of the rotation came as a surprise, given how much Kuminga has played to start the year.<\/p>\n
Kerr was asked what he hoped Kuminga would process from getting benched. In his answer, he offered that part of the reason he decided to sit Kuminga was that reserve forward Gui Santos has played well in spots recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust got to keep going,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cJust like everybody else who\u2019s in this position. It happens to everybody pretty much, other than the stars. Guys come in and out of the rotation depending on who\u2019s available, how the team\u2019s playing. Really wanted to get Gui (in). I think the way Gui has played the last couple of nights, and after what he did down the stretch last year. You see the impact he makes with his energy. And then obviously getting Melt back, and Pat\u2019s emergence. We\u2019ve got a lot of mouths to feed. And this is what we decided to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked how Kuminga handled the news of his demotion, Kerr said he wanted to keep those conversations \u201cprivate.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Jonathan Kuminga came into Sunday night\u2019s game just 8-for-32 from the field in his last three appearances. (Mitchell Leff \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
For his part, Kuminga seemed to take the news in stride. He said he was feeling fine physically. He calmly sat at his locker after the game and took questions from reporters for about five minutes. Here are the key questions and answers from that sequence:<\/p>\n
(This Q&A has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the explanation you got from Kerr as to why you didn\u2019t play tonight?<\/p>\n
Let me remember that. That we were going another way. And I think we just switched certain things.<\/p>\n
Do you think it\u2019s a one-game thing, or do you think it\u2019s for the foreseeable future?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not really sure, but as long as things are working out there, I don\u2019t see the point of switching anything, changing. Whenever my number gets called, I\u2019ll be ready. But I don\u2019t see the point because I feel like we\u2019ve been doing good. We\u2019re doing good, and I think things are working and moving well. So I don\u2019t see the point of taking certain people out of the rotation, they\u2019re playing good and things are going well right now. So I don\u2019t see a point.<\/p>\n
How does your game feel right now?<\/p>\n
I feel good. I don\u2019t have any problem. I\u2019m going to work out every day. Stay ready. Because you never know how these things work sometimes. My number could get called any time, so I got to believe in my game, and I feel good about my game. So whenever that number get called, I\u2019ll be (ready).<\/p>\n
How do your past experiences with being in and out of the lineup help you deal with this situation?<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, I just got to be a professional. Things that happened, it\u2019s happened before. It\u2019s happening now. Nothing really is going to change certain things, but just staying positive.<\/p>\n
What do you think you have to do to get back on the floor?<\/p>\n
I just got to stay on top of my work. And we\u2019re playing good. I\u2019m happy for people like Gui (Santos), Pat Spencer, (points at Quinten Post) (Post) plays a lot, so it\u2019s normal. He does his thing out there, like he did today. Like I said, you never know how the game will go. I just got to mentally be prepared every day. No matter the time, circumstances, I just got to be ready to go out there and be impactful.<\/p>\n
With how the summer went \u2014 and how it concluded \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of attention on you. How much does that weigh on you this year?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no pressure on my side. I keep everything that happened in the summer in the summer. I can\u2019t focus on everything at the same time. That\u2019s going to take me off track. So whatever happened in the summer, I don\u2019t control that. It happened for a reason, but it\u2019s the past. I moved on from that. I\u2019m trying to figure it out. I\u2019m trying to go out there every day (to) impact and (help) us win.<\/p>\n
How do you think your relationship is with Kerr right now?<\/p>\n
We have a good relationship. We get to talk and figure out things. We don\u2019t have any problem. I don\u2019t have any problem. It just didn\u2019t go my way today. So I\u2019m going to stay happy, I\u2019m going to stay lucky, I\u2019m going to stay focused into the next one.<\/p>\n
How have your teammates helped you stay positive? (Note: Kuminga started this answer discussing Butler, but then mentioned how much he enjoys being around some of the younger players on the team.)<\/p>\n
Just being around Gui, Trayce (Jackson-Davis), Moses (Moody), all the young guys, BP (Brandin Podziemski). They keep my spirits and my hopes up. It don\u2019t got to come from Draymond (Green) and Jimmy every time. Just watching them, going out there and having great nights \u2026 they just give me joy.<\/p>\n
Kuminga\u2019s status has been an ongoing storyline for the last few seasons, as he\u2019s struggled to find consistency in his game and consistent minutes from Kerr. Over the summer, the chatter about his future within the organization went into overdrive after months of contract negotiations. Kuminga eventually signed a two-year deal with a team option in the second season, but the feeling around the league was, and still is, that there is a solid chance he\u2019ll be moved before the trade deadline. After getting pulled out of the rotation again, that feeling likely will grow stronger as the date to officially move him (Jan. 15) gets closer.<\/p>\n
The awkward part for the Warriors is that instead of celebrating two straight wins without veteran stars Stephen Curry (quad) and Green (foot), the Kuminga storyline once again hung over events on the floor. Kerr reiterated on Sunday night that the Warriors\u2019 depth, specifically praising veteran Buddy Hield and several other players, makes the rotation setup even tougher in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cWe get Steph back. We got Pat playing at the level he is. BP\u2019s picked it up. Melt is a hell of player. We got a lot of guys who can play, and the thing that I like about it is it creates competition \u2026 this is how the league works. There\u2019s always somebody knocking down the door, trying to get your job. So it\u2019s on everybody to just compete, bring their best effort, bring the best effort for the team, and I think we got a lot of guys doing that. You can feel the energy. We\u2019re playing with a different level of energy the last few nights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from the wins, the Warriors can take solace in that they have completed the toughest stretch of their season\u2019s schedule. Sunday night\u2019s win marked the 15th road game of the season. It also marked the completion of their sixth set of back-to-back games already this year. The Warriors head home with two days off and two practice days before a Friday matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They finally have time to take a breath and get healthy after a brutal schedule to start the year that involved multiple cross-country trips.<\/p>\n
As was the case throughout the summer, the Kuminga situation continues to linger over almost everything else. As he tries to earn his way back on the floor, Butler offered some words of wisdom as the young forward takes the next step in his up-and-down season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell him, come spend some days with me,\u201d Butler said. \u201cBecause basketball is much more than just a game. Come lose at Uno. Come work out. Let\u2019s keep your mind in it, because no matter what, your time\u2019s gonna come. He knows that. I\u2019m 36 years of age. I\u2019m gonna miss another game or two. And then his number\u2019s gonna be called. Whether it\u2019s 00 or 1. I don\u2019t know why he changed it anyway, but he has to be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga did not play in Sunday night\u2019s 123-91 win over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,8217,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-332947","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\/332947","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=332947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}