Draymond Green Ordered To Mentor Jonathan Kuminga

When Draymond Green signed the four-year, $100 million extension with the Golden State Warriors, there was an unwritten condition within the contract Golden State wanted Green to adhere to.

Owner Joe Lacob asked the 34-year-old veteran to mentor Jonathan Kuminga. Lacob wanted the 21-year-old to learn from the team’s veterans but wanted to take it a step further by having Green personally work with Kuminga.

“Joe said, ‘I know you’re going to play and lead and all of that, but I need one more thing,'” Green recalled. “He said ‘I need you to take JK under your wing.

“I said, ‘You got my word …To me, that was a condition of the contract.”

According to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, when Green was suspended, he watched film on Kuminga and solely focused on his game. Something Green noticed was that he was not attacking defenses by using his speed and athleticism on drives to the paint. 

“He can always jump and get himself out of trouble,” Green said of his advice to Kuminga. “Nobody else is going to be up there with you. Most of us, we’ve got to find angles, and different things to score, but if you get in trouble with anything, just jump.”

Kuminga is having a career year with 16.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 65 games.

Jonathan Kuminga Loses Faith In Steve Kerr, Warriors

Sources close to Jonathan Kuminga tell Shams Charania of The Athletic that he no longer believes he can reach his full potential while playing under Steve Kerr.

This frustration comes after sitting the final 18 minutes of their Golden State Warriors loss to the Denver Nuggets, in which they blew an 18-point lead with 5 minutes to go in the game. Nikola Jokic buried a half-court shot to win it.

“He was playing great,” Kerr said of Kuminga after the game. “His normal time to go back in would have been around the five-, six-minute mark (of the fourth). (Andrew Wiggins) was playing great, we were rolling, were up 18, 19, whatever it was. So we just stayed with him. Then at that (later) point, it didn’t feel like the right thing to do. He had been sitting for a while. So I stayed with the group that was out there, and obviously, we couldn’t close it out.”

While Kerr does explain his reasoning for keeping him on the bench, this isn’t the first time Kerr has decided to defer away from his younger talent. Moses Moody is also frustrated with his role in Kerr’s system.

A lack of consistency and no fundamental role has been the source of frustration for both young talents. These players are also lottery-drafted players, which makes it more frustrating – if considering their perspective.

When given the opportunity, they can make an impact. However, Steve Kerr refuses to allow Moody and Kuminga to shine, especially when the rest of the roster struggles to close out a game against the reigning champs.