There was a point in the season where Jonathan Kuminga was very frustrated about his minutes. That point is gone now, but it seems that the frustration has transformed a little bit into anxiety.
In an exclusive interview with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Jonathan Kuminga revealed his current mentality on the Warriors and was very candid about his minutes.
"It feels great," Kuminga said. "Obviously, I'm still a little nervous because I'm still younger on the team where if you lose the ball sometimes, you might come out. Just deciding what I need to do and thinking faster and making faster plays."
When Kuminga describes his mentality, it actually sounds very anxious. It's not a good situation for a player to be so consistently worried that one mistake might ruin his minutes.
"That's the toughest part because now I have to learn how to play with Steph Curry, Klay, Draymond."
Still, when a young NBA player is playing with people who have 4 NBA Championships, that type of microscope is what they're going to experience. That's why it's so much tougher to be a younger player who's getting increased minutes on a team with little room for error. At the same time, the mentorship will be something that no other players can experience. For Kuminga, he gets to learn under Draymond.
"It's been great," Kuminga said. "I have Draymond every day helping me throughout the situation, telling me what I need to do. Helping me slow down a little bit. Obviously, in the summer, I had to go out there and just work because I knew what player I was. So I had to put a lot of work in every different type of aspect in basketball."
The Golden State Warriors are a team that's looked unsure of their direction all season. They've tiptoed around whether to play younger players more or play veteran players more, but one thing is certain on this team - Jonathan Kuminga should play more.
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