{"id":556149,"date":"2026-01-23T19:59:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/556149\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T19:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:59:36","slug":"when-jonathan-kuminga-plays-for-the-warriors-no-one-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/556149\/","title":{"rendered":"When Jonathan Kuminga plays for the Warriors, no one wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

This column is an excerpt from our Section 415 newsletter, where we cover the biggest stories in Bay Area sports each Monday and Friday. To sign up, visit The Standard\u2019s\u00a0newsletter page<\/a>\u00a0and select Section 415. It\u2019s free to subscribe!<\/p>\n

Amid the most gut-wrenching week of the Warriors\u2019 season<\/a>, Joe Lacob found one fleeting moment of joy.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s three-point play in the second half of a blowout loss to the Raptors on Tuesday night brought the Chase Center crowd to its feet<\/a>, including a team owner who leaped out of his chair and pumped his fist.<\/p>\n

After Kuminga made his first appearance for Golden State<\/a> in 16 games, Draymond Green praised the 23-year-old for seizing the rare opportunity with a 20-point effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve been a nuisance, if you will, that game doesn\u2019t happen for you,\u201d Green said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Jan. 13<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Kuminga surged again Thursday in a nine-minute stint against the Mavericks. He scored 10 points, made all four free-throw attempts, dished out two assists, and even added two steals in a 123-115 loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as has been the case following every twist and turn on the Kuminga roller coaster, a temporary thrill was brought to a screeching halt when he exited the game with knee soreness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the wake of Jimmy Butler\u2019s season-ending ACL injury<\/a>, the Warriors are searching for reasons to be optimistic. Kuminga\u2019s play, while encouraging in a vacuum, isn\u2019t one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden State has come to grips with the reality that when Kuminga plays, no one wins. It\u2019s why he was banished to the bench<\/a> in mid-December, it\u2019s why he demanded a trade last week, and why the best-case scenario for all parties is for general manager Mike Dunleavy to send the former lottery pick elsewhere ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every glimmer of hope is a reminder that if the Warriors choose to keep Kuminga, they\u2019ll be choosing a player who doesn\u2019t fit alongside their superstar and doesn\u2019t mesh with their coach\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

And even if the dynasty is in its last days, Golden State shouldn\u2019t prioritize a role player over a franchise legend and a future Hall of Fame coach. Fans can disagree with Steve Kerr. They can plead for Steph Curry to figure out a way to win alongside Kuminga. They can point out that Kerr is in the last year of his contract, and Curry won\u2019t play forever.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all futile.<\/p>\n

When Kuminga plays, it\u2019s not just that no one really wins, it\u2019s that everyone loses. His bursts of greatness are a reminder of what could have been, what isn\u2019t, and what won\u2019t be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At least not in Golden State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This column is an excerpt from our Section 415 newsletter, where we cover the biggest stories in Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,479,164,4025,4024,867,6,66,932,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-556149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-golden-state","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-goldenstate","12":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","13":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-steph-curry","17":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115946191315009842","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}