Why Draymond was disappointed in JK’s first Summer League game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
There’s no one more honest when it comes to basketball analysis than Draymond Green.
On the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” the Warriors veteran and four-time champion expressed dismay on what he saw in Jonathan Kuminga’s debut in the Las Vegas Summer League last week.
Green was in attendance at Thomas & Mack Center for the Warriors’ clash against the New York Knicks, which featured both Kuminga and Moses Moody in the starting five.
In 24 minutes, Kuminga tallied just four points, three assists and two rebounds. He shot 2-of-10 from the field, missed all four 3-point attempts and committed five turnovers.
“I’m going to say this publicly because I said it to his face,” Green said on his podcast. “I thought Jonathan Kuminga was so, so, so bad in the game that I went to when they were playing the New York Knicks. I thought he was very, very bad. He didn’t look engaged.”
Kuminga later called the effort the worst game of his life.
“I was disappointed,” Green said. “… When my OGs came to see me in Summer League, I’m bouncing off the wall. Your OGs are there. You want to destroy whoever’s in front of you because your OGs are there. It just didn’t feel like he had the pop. Because if you’ve got the pop, there is no one in Summer League that can touch you.”
Kuminga clearly learned from it, because he rebounded for 28 points and seven boards in his next game two days later. On Tuesday, Kuminga poured in a game-high 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting against the Boston Celtics.
“And, sure enough, he bounced back the next game and showed that,” Green said. “Like, yeah, I’ve got the pop. There’s nobody in Summer League that can guard me.”
Patience will be key, but there are high expectations for Kuminga next season after Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. departed in free agency.
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A few minutes later in the podcast, Green put his criticism aside and addressed the bigger picture heading into the 2022-23 season.
“I was very disappointed with JK’s first game. His next two he showed why he’s the No. 7 pick in the draft. He shows why there’s so much belief and excitement around him for this organization, why there’s a belief that with the losses in free agency that he’ll fill that spot going into next year,” Green said. “And I think that’s something that, as a 19-year-old, he has to understand. That’s a huge role to fill. But ultimately, you’re just playing basketball and you’ve been doing this your whole life.
“So I’m looking forward to him getting that opportunity.”