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Jerry West praises bright future of Warriors’ Wiseman, Kuminga originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

The Warriors are fortunate enough to have their past, present and future all blend together into a decade-plus of dominance. 

Winning three championships in five straight NBA Finals appearances from 2015-2019, the Warriors dynasty has continued its winning ways this season and should have continued success in the near future with the next young core that is already being developed. 

NBA legend Jerry West joined The Athletic’s “The TK Show” with Tim Kawakami where he discussed the Warriors’ success this season and gave his thoughts on the future of the team with second-year center James Wiseman and rookie forward Jonathan Kuminga

“My goodness, you’re talking about a young puppy here,” West said of Wiseman. “He comes from college where he was the center of attention. He’s really talented. When you come into the league, I’ve always felt that he should be is a defensive player. They need him for that purpose sometimes against good teams. He’s really talented. I don’t know him but I understand that he’s a great kid, he’s quiet. A lot of the time people see that and say ‘i don’t see the fire.’ There’s a lot of people who don’t jump around all over the place and have a lot of fire. I’m hopeful that he will be the player that they expect him to be.”

One year after selecting Wiseman No. 2 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, Golden State doubled down on the future by selecting both Kuminga and guard Moses Moody with the No. 7 and 14 picks respectively in the 2021 draft. 

“They got two really good players in the draft,” West said of Kuminga and Moody. “The Kuminga kid, he, in particular, there’s something special about him when you watch him. He’s young and you can’t expect these young guys to come in and play very experienced guys all the time. Particularly for coaches who have really good teams, they want them to grow into a position and they can’t disrupt the winning habits of the other players who have been playing together for a few years. I think all of them would be further along if they were playing for a poor team, but they’re going to get there. They have some terrific prospects and this is why I think the future is really bright for the Warriors.”

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As long as Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are still Warriors, the team should expect to be competitive year in and year out. 

It remains unclear how long that trio will stick together, but ultimately, when that era does come to an end, Golden State has an exciting core of players ready to step up and follow in their footsteps. 

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