Top things you didn’t know about Golden State Warrior’s rising star Jonathan Kuminga
Two years ago, the Democratic Republic of Congo native was playing basketball in American high-school now he owns the record for the being the youngest player to start an NBA playoff game in over 50 years.
Basketball
Basketball breakout Jonathan Kuminga is a rookie on the rise.
Ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft, the 19-year-old was lauded as a physically gifted prospect thanks to his 2.01m (six feet, seven inches) stature and presence to match.
A year later the Congolese, who was picked seventh in the draft by the Golden States Warriors, has spent his debut season giving life to those expectations.
Regularly called upon by the Warriors who have battled through several injury bouts to some of their top stars, Kuminga has emerged as a player poised to achieve great things.
A nod to his future promise came when head coach Steve Kerr selected the power forward to start in the Game 3 of the Western Conference semi-finals against the Memphis Grizzlies. The call-up made the Congolese the youngest player to start a playoff game since 1971, at 19 years and 213 days old.
Now the young gun could be on the precipice of more basketball history as his franchise prepares to take on the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.
As the Warriors mount their championship-winning campaign here’s what you need to know about one of their certified future stars: Jonathan Kuminga.
His parents were instrumental to his basketball beginnings
Growing up in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuminga’s start in basketball heavily depended on his parents.
With no basketball or gyms nearby to his home, his mother and father, both athletic in their own right, were the ones the nurtured his early interest in the sport.
“We don’t have gyms anywhere near the house, you have to walk a couple miles for you to get there,” Kuminga told Uproxx reflecting on how he started. “For a young kid, that’s not safe. Even if they see a future ahead of you, they’re not going to let you just go by yourself anywhere and be in a critical situation.”
However, when the prodigious talent turned 10 his parents began allowing him to go to the gym by himself. Their decision empowered him with a sense of trust, and it was at the early point Kuminga realised his potential was now in his own hands and it was up to him to carve out his own path.
“I think that’s when I really fell in love with the game,” he continued to Uproxx. “And just wanted to be at the gym every single down. Like it don’t matter what time. I think that’s when I started believing in myself.”
That self-belief then pushed Kuminga out of his comfort zone.
Having grown up watching NBA highlights of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James at a local internet café, the Congolese star set his sights on America’s premier league and took the leap to move to the US at just 13 years old to pursue high school basketball and make his dream a reality.
He opted for the G League Ignite over college basketball
After making the move Stateside Kuminga then embarked on his trend upwards.
The Congolese basketball player eager to make it to the big time attended three different high schools in three different states across a three-year time-span, including Huntingdon Prep (WV), Our Savior New American School (NY), and The Patrick School (NJ).
Though a five-star recruit out of high school, Kuminga made the decision to reclassify and join the G League Ignite instead of opting for college despite holding offers from Duke, Kentucky, Auburn, Florida State and Texas Tech.
It was a choice that quickly paid off with Kuminga quickly thriving under in the league. With Ignite, he averaged 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game underscoring his NBA credentials for all those watching.
He then declared for the 2021 NBA Draft where he was selected seventh by the Warriors.
He has a unique relationship with Draymond Green
Draymond Green, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson – when it comes to top, leading talent the Golden State’s coffers are plentiful.
That excellence, of course, comes with experience which is why Green was particularly jarred to see Kuminga laughing at him in the early weeks in the Warriors’ dressing room.
Reflecting on it the 32-year-old realised it must be to do with the age gap between the two. Speaking in a Finals press conference the two-time Olympic champion explained:
“Imagine when you see one of the old heads doing something. If you see an O.G. doing something, you’re going to laugh and be like alright, I see you, O.G. And you’re really laughing at the fact that that’s so old school that it’s funny.
“That’s how I feel he [Kuminga] was looking at me like, ‘Dude you’re just old. You move old, you look old.’”
That learning taught the three-time NBA champ that connecting with the Congolese talent required a different approach:
“In the most respectful way, I had to look at him more like my son that my brother,” Green told Andscape. “The reality is he is just as close to my son in age as me in age.”
Though the age-gap might be stark Green is sure that the future looks bright for Kuminga:
“He’s going to be really good,” continued Green to Andscape. “He can be a perennial All-Star in this league. That’s up to him and the work he puts in. But he has the skills, the tools, he can see the floor, he has the opportunity if he puts the work in to be a perennial All-Star.”
He has the approval of Jayson Tatum
While the Dubs and the Celtics may about to be locking horns for the foreseeable as the 2022 NBA Finals get underway, earlier in the season Kuminga picked up one of the highest compliments from what is about to be, one of his fiercest rivals.
During a regular season game against the 2021 champs, the Milwaukee Bucks, Kuminga contributed a double-double and 11 rebounds to help lift the Warriors to victory.
His on-court antics it caught the attention of Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Jayson Tatum.
“Kuminga gone by very good for a long” wrote Celtic’s talisman Tatum on his social media.
The Congolese star expressed his gratitude for the Tweet revealing he did not even expect Tatum to know what he was doing on the court.