Draymond, Kuminga and a growing Golden State Warriors bond،
DRAYMOND GREEN STAYED away from the Golden State Warriors' facilities following his second suspension this season, spending time at his Los Angeles home while he participated in counseling sessions and virtual meetings to fulfill his reinstatement obligations.
Green missed 16 games after hitting Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face during a Dec. 13 loss. During his nearly four-week absence, he stayed in touch with teammates Stephen Curry and Chris Paul and Warriors coach Steve Kerr. Green received daily text messages from his college coach, Michigan State's Tom Izzo.
But Green, 34, also found himself communicating frequently with teammate Jonathan Kuminga, with the 21-year-old forward starting in his place. Green sent messages to Kuminga after nearly every game he was out, filled with notes, video clips and voice memos about his performances.
“He was watching the games at home, he was the one watching film, and that actually helped me understand who I am,” Kuminga told ESPN.
Those conversations between Green and Kuminga proved invaluable for a team that will depend on the future Hall of Famer and young forward in the playoffs, which will likely begin in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
“I wanted to get everything he knows,” Kuminga said. “With him, he won't just give [advice] if you are not participating in major competitions. »
Reaching this point in their communication has had some difficulties. Kuminga's play coming off the bench early in the season was inconsistent and Green's antics on the court didn't help.
When Green was first suspended five games for choking Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert during a November 14 loss, Kuminga started in his place the next game, scoring what was at that point a season-high 21 points in a November 16 game. loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The move wouldn't last. Kuminga returned to a bench role for the next four contests as Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted to start Paul in three-guard lineups alongside Curry and Klay Thompson.
Green's subsequent suspension for hitting Nurkic just six games after returning from the Gobert incident proved to be a turning point for the 6-foot-7 Kuminga, who has since solidified a spot in the starting lineup with an average of 18.4 points during these 16 games without Green.
But the Warriors defense ranked 28th in the league during that stretch. The team went on a five-game winning streak in mid-December, only to lose seven of its next 10 games. Upon Green's return on January 15 and with the team once again below .500, Kerr started Green and Kuminga side by side.
This has helped them develop an effective partnership on the court, with the team having a 17-8 record this season when both start. On the offensive end, Kuminga shot 73 percent directly on Green's passes – the second-highest percentage between two teammates in the league.
They also have the best defensive efficiency of any two players in the Western Conference to play more than 500 minutes together, according to Second Spectrum.
The Warriors have not exceeded ninth place in the West rankings since mid-November, and they are competing for the last two play-in places with the Los Angeles Lakers. But with the playoffs less than a month away, the Warriors have begun to rely on the improving connection between Kuminga and Green.
“You have to show him you’re ready,” Kuminga said of Green. “Your mentality must be different.”
KUMINGA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH Green started before he was even selected by Golden State as the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft.
“That’s one of the reasons I ended up here,” Kuminga said. “Before recruiting me, he called [former Warriors general manager] Bob [Myers] and told him to bring me here. I think it’s one of the greatest things that’s ever happened.”
It was Green's former teammate, Jarrett Jack, who first told him to watch Kuminga. Jack played 13 NBA seasons, including the 2012-13 campaign with the Warriors, and mentored Green as a rookie. “He’s my vet,” Green told ESPN.
Jack finished his professional career in 2021 playing with Kuminga on the G League team Ignite. The biggest knock on Kuminga during the selection process was that he needed more time to develop.
But that didn't matter to Green, who often attends Warriors draft meetings and prospect workouts. He texted Myers and urged him to choose Kuminga.
“You knew the gift was there,” Green said of Kuminga. “He just needs a few years. And for me to have Jarrett Jack telling me he's good, that means a lot.”
But Kuminga didn't initially embrace Green's form of mentorship — at least not enough for the Warriors' longtime leader.
“You get to a point in your career where you've accomplished X, you've accomplished Y and Z,” Green said, “so he should just listen to me. This is a slap in the face to me, not in a negative way. , just like 'Wake up, you're not listening.'”
Last June, Green was sitting on the phone in Paris with team owner Joe Lacob on the other end. Green had just agreed to a new four-year deal, but Lacob still had one contingency that wouldn't appear in the documents.
“Joe said, 'I know you're going to play and direct and all that, but I need one more thing,'” Green recalled. “He said, ‘I need you to take JK under your wing.
“I said, 'You have my word… For me, it was a condition of the contract.'
Warriors assistant coach Anthony Vereen played a key role this season in helping Green better connect with Kuminga. Having worked with Kuminga since he was drafted, Vereen learned the best way to train him was to build a foundation outside of the gym.
“The coaches I respected the most were because they taught me a lot more about life than basketball,” Vereen told ESPN. “Once you can help anyone solve problems and deal with adversity, the X’s and O’s of basketball come easy.”
Kuminga moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the United States when he was 13. He bounced from West Virginia to New York to New Jersey, while spending time in Miami, throughout high school. Before being drafted, he spent his only season with G League Ignite in that league's Orlando bubble in the spring of 2021.
“I just got to know him and understand everything he had in his personal life,” Vereen said.
Vereen shared this idea with Green, who then began learning about Kuminga. Sometimes it was in the locker room or on the team bus and plane. In other cases it was a text message. Conversations ranged from simple questions about each other, to discussions about family or life advice.
“I identify with him in the sense that he takes care of everyone, his whole family. You could say he's the boss, and I can relate to that,” Green said. “At twenty-one, I feel this pressure. Identifying that and understanding that, I really want to help.”
“[Green] was one of those people who knew me, but never knew me like that” Kuminga said. “It took him a long time, but he just started checking in every other day.
“He would ask me questions that weren't basketball related. … He took this time to get to know me and it really brought our relationship from just work to personal.”
DURING ITS SUSPENSIONGreen saw something that would unlock Kuminga's offensive game: He needed to attack defenses differently and use his speed and athleticism to take advantage of any game on drives and in the paint.
“He can always jump in and get out of trouble,” Green said of his advice to Kuminga. “No one else is going to be up there with you. Most of us have to find angles and different things to score, but if you have trouble with anything, jump.”
Green told Kuminga that his best position to create his own shot was in the middle zone, an observation that Kuminga and Vereen confirmed on the shot chart and began to apply on the court.
“[Kuminga] came to me like, 'AV, if I take just one more dribble, I'll be at the rim,'” Vereen said. “He saw that it opened up so much for him and for the team, and then he s 'is committed to living at the rim and making the right reads.
That's helped Kuminga connect better on his drives to the rim: His 63 percent conversion puts him in the top 10 among players with at least 75 attempts, according to Second Spectrum. He averages 10 points per game in the paint, the most for a Warriors player since Kevin Durant in 2016-17.
And while Green worked to connect with him, Kuminga worked to have better communication with Kerr — an issue that surfaced after a Jan. 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets, when the Athletic reported that Kuminga had lost confidence in Kerr. Kuminga told reporters the next day that he met with Kerr to “understand each other better.”
Since then, he's started visiting Kerr's office more regularly, and he's also brought family members to spend more time with the team.
“When you get to know someone better, a natural level of trust sets in,” Kerr told ESPN of her relationship with Kuminga.
Kuminga told ESPN he never thought about requesting a trade and wanted to stay with the team — a sentiment echoed by Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy at the Feb. 8 trade deadline , when he told reporters that Kuminga was “as untouchable as guys get.” be in this league. »
All of this has led to Kuminga finally establishing those stronger bonds that he initially lacked when he joined the Warriors, especially with his veteran teammate in the frontcourt.
“That’s the only thing he expected from me,” Kuminga said. “How am I going to react to certain things? When it was true, everything took off.”
Additional reporting by ESPN Senior Writer Ramona Shelburne.
