Jonathan Kuminga told Monte Poole and Kerith Burke on “The Dubs Talk Podcast” that he wants to spend his entire NBA career with the Golden State Warriors.
Kuminga would love to follow in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green‘s footsteps by becoming a Warriors legend.
“When I look at those three people – Steph, Klay and Draymond – and I look at their pictures in the practice facility every day, I’m like, ‘This is where I want to be. I want to be right there. I want to play here my whole life,'” Kuminga said. “I mean, you don’t choose and control where you’re going to be, but obviously that’s the goal. That’s where I want to be. I want my name next to those guys’ one day obviously.”
The Warriors drafted Kuminga with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. The Goma native is averaging 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season while shooting 52.9% from the field, 31.7% from beyond the arc and 74.5% from the free-throw line.
“I got drafted here,” Kuminga said. “They always – the people are great, they always take care of me, they’re always helping me grow as a person. So obviously, I would love to just be one of the Warriors for life and just never change. My favorite player was a Laker for life, so obviously I would love to be a Warrior for life.”
NBA reporters Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported in January that Kuminga had “lost faith” in Warriors head coach Steve Kerr after sitting for the final 18 minutes against the Denver Nuggets on January 4. However, Kuminga’s minutes and role have increased since then.
“I mean, his message it’s always about the same thing, you know? He always wants to help me to actually see the bigger picture,” Kuminga said. “And obviously, I saw a bigger picture, but just the way Steve is going to explain it, it’s way better obviously because he’s way older than me, he knows how life goes, he played basketball too. So just him telling me that, even everything I do good, he felt like I could do it better.”
Several teams were interested in acquiring Kuminga at this year’s trade deadline, but the Warriors made the talented swingman untouchable.
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