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As Stephen Curry starred with 31 points, Jonathan Kuminga was a close second in the best-performers list on the night. The Golden State Warriors returned to winning ways last night with a 121-128 victory over the LA Lakers.
Kuminga contributed with 23 points as the Warriors dominated inside the paint in the absence of Lakers’ Anthony Davis, who played for just 12 minutes on the night.
Klay Thompson, who himself has had a change in role and now heads the Warriors’ second unit alongside Chris Paul, came off the bench to score 26 points with three assists and four rebounds. Thompson took the post-game platform to direct some praise towards Jonathan Kuminga.
He said:
"Jonathan has been incredible for us. He might be the best athlete in the NBA, just his ability to rise up. And his combination of speed, so, he is the future of the franchise, and we need him to go where we want to go this season."
The Warriors veteran and one half of the Splash Brothers feels that Kuminga is an integral part of the organization and is set to play a huge role in the coming years.
Kuminga has seen a constant increase in his role at the Warriors since the start of the season and has been on a tear in recent games. He has averaged 22.8 points in his last five games, during which he has shown a stark increase in his overall attempts.
Jonathan Kuminga intent on becoming a Warriors legend
While there had been rumors of discontent from the young star due to the reduced time he received in the initial part fo the season, Kuminga has surely had a turnaround of late. The game against the Lakers proved to be Kuminga’s 24th straight start of the season.
His scoring ability and domination inside the paint aside, Kuminga is also a hard worker and seems to have a unique ceiling both offensively and defensively. He is currently scoring at an impressive 56% overall in the NBA, which considering his volume increase is especially impressive, and comes amidst plenty of scope for improvement with respect to shooting.
Recently speaking about the initial disagreement that he reportedly had with Steve Kerr, Kuminga claimed that he wants to stay with the Warriors his entire career:
“I would love to just be one of the Warriors for life – and just never change. I did not lose faith of being here; it’s not what I said. It was just definitely to a point where I felt like I need to be [on the court]."
He added:
"I felt like I could help. I felt like there was just so much left on the table where I felt like me and the young guys could go out there and help Steph, Klay and Draymond."
Kuminga also went in detail about the kind of constant support that Steve Kerr has lent him. He said that the Warriors head coach had wanted him to continue working on his game and keep improving, and instead look at the bigger picture.
Guess the Lakers players!
