Warriors anchor sends message to young teammate after recent benching

January 15, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) walk to the bench at the end of the first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory credits: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images — Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Warriors of the Golden State star Jonathan Kuminga recently received praise from his former All-Star teammate Draymond Green following his well-documented early-season funk.

Warriors: Draymond Green praises Jonathan Kuminga for overcoming slump

October 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (left) looks to beat Los Angeles Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. during the first quarter at Chase Center. (55) to pass. Mandatory credits: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images — Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

If Anthony Slater of The Athletic shared on (h/t Jack Slater of ClutchPoints):

“I don’t want him to enjoy coming off the bench. He believes he is a superstar; I believe he can be a superstar,” Green said of Kuminga after Saturday’s game. “And so as long as you believe that, you shouldn’t be okay with coming off the bench. But how you respond is important. You can sulk, or you can just do what you can do to help the team win and be great, and that’s what he does.

“So we have to talk about not only his play, but also his maturity, because he wouldn’t have done that well last year,” Green continued. “But another year of growth and maturity, he is handling it well and he has played his best three games so far this season.”

Kuminga has righted the ship behind the Sixth Man of the Year caliber play

November 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) handles the ball against the Houston Rockets during the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images — Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The DRC native got off to a slow start to the season, scoring a total of 24 points in his first three appearances while shooting a poor 33.3 percent from the field and an 11.1 percent connect rate from three-point range. His disappointing play even sparked trade rumors surrounding his name. The Warriors reportedly were “more willing than ever” to move him to Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.

Since then, the 22-year-old has been on a tear, racking up nearly eight extra minutes per game coming off the bench, turning that into 18.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG and one steal per game on 51.4 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent shooting from deep. Groen knows how important it is to believe in yourself in competition to stay productive. While Kuminga has handled his demotion to the second unit the right way, the Michigan player also doesn’t want his athletic young teammate to become complacent.

Relegation is never good. Nevertheless, Kuminga appears to be on track to regain his starting spot, or at least do what he would do in that capacity with the back five ahead.