After a strong comeback against the Sacramento Kings, Jonathan Kuminga looked promising. He had returned from a 31-game hiatus owing to his ankle sprain, but the game against the Atlanta Hawks witnessed HC Steve Kerr bench him for the entire fourth quarter of the 115-124 loss. The coach later explained: “JK did a good job in the first-half, and then in the second-half I just went with the guys who I felt gave us the best chance.” Kerr’s decision perhaps stemmed from the fact that the player scored a team-high of 16 points in the first half but also a game-worse -18 in his 22 minutes.

It was a game the Warriors played without the offensive firepower of Stephen Curry, so the team could have used Kuminga’s late scoring (the latter averages the third-most points on the team behind Curry and Jimmy Butler), yet there was no room for him later in the game. The fact that he could get even a second of playing time in the fourth quarter shows where he is at in comparison to the rest of the team. What’s concerning is that this comes ahead of the player’s restricted free agency in the offseason. If Kuminga doesn’t get the opportunity to be a part of the closing lineups in the upcoming games, fans will find it difficult to understand how the GSW can consider paying him over $100 million during the summer.

Thus, the most important stakeholders have some questions after Steve Kerr & Co. lost the match vs. the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. And the questions are simple yet concerning: Is the Jimmy Butler effect fading away? And is JK’s inconsistency a new burden for the Warriors? You see, analyst and YouTuber Jim Park has some thoughts about the whole situation as he took to X and wrote:

“I was mostly watching Warriors games with a lot of peace and having fun again since the Jimmy Butler trade. That fun has dissipated since the return of Jonathan Kuminga. Even in the wins, they’ve not looked like the team they’d been. I don’t think he understands what it takes to be a consistently winning player at this juncture of his career – in fact, he’s never been that player to this point. He needs to show a LOT to prove me wrong at this point. 

“-18 in 21 minutes of play tonight. Who cares about the empty 16 points on 6/14 FG when he’s a zero presence on defense? There’s just no heart on that end. No utter desire to get stops. No sense of desperation. Championship-caliber teams don’t have critical pieces having games like this off their bench. Sixth men on championship-caliber teams are utterly reliable. Think about what GPII has done in the second half of this season, for example. Think of what Gui Santos had been doing before getting his role stripped and minutes diminished since Kuminga’s return. They persistently and consistently make winning plays. Kuminga is all over the map in terms of consistency. The good plays are often negated by the bad ones. That’s the definition of a non-contending player. 

“At this point, I’m resigned to the possibility of Kuminga’s presence and the need to play him just because he can score as a key reason why the Warriors are back to being a middle-of-the-pack team rather than one of the best in the league, which they were approaching when Kuminga wasn’t playing. I’m also resigned to the possibility of Warriors coming up well short in the playoffs, provided they can get there at this point – my confidence has waned – because of Kuminga’s presence. Butler has made everyone on the Warriors better, except for Kuminga. That should tell you something. Unless he somehow transforms into a completely different player, I’d rather see if Braxton Key is worth giving a playoff rotation to. 

“Like I said, I wanted to see a transformation, but there’s nothing there. I know a player with winning tendencies when I see one. If Kuminga showed championship-caliber tendencies, don’t you think I would be thrilled? I would rather he prove me wrong than me being right. I want to be thrilled, but he just hasn’t been and isn’t that guy and this is now four straight years I’ve had to speak on this matter. I shouldn’t be more excited about Gui Santos than Kuminga, given the talent difference, but that’s what it is as of now.”

The reason for the call out? Kuminga has averaged around 14.3 points in the last six games that he played for the Golden State Warriors. His season average currently is 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 45.4 FG%. Considering his absence from the league due to his injury, the effects are visible.

Top Comment by T

Why would any publication release such nonsense? I can understand fans are silly, they’re fanatics. But to publish this drivel...more

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But there is a deep frustration with Jonathan Kuminga’s inconsistent impact on the Warriors since his return to the lineup. Fans have expressed their disappointment in JK’s inability to contribute to winning basketball despite his scoring ability. The complaint is simple: What’s the point of scoring when you cannot defend? There’s no fire, no urgency—just empty numbers that don’t lead to wins. Kuminga seems to be all over the place, unpredictable, and unreliable.

Fans are trying to figure out what’s wrong with the Warriors after Jonathan Kuminga’s comeback!

The game vs. the Atlanta Hawks ended in a disappointment for the Golden State Warriors. Jimmy Butler scored 25 points and Moses Moody chipped in 20. Meanwhile, in the 115-124 loss, Jonathan Kuminga went with 16 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Not particularly impressive, and he also didn’t play in the fourth quarter. So, one of the fans wrote: “Crazy how Kuminga didn’t play in the 4th and we still lost.”

“Butler, GP2, and Draymond had the best plus-minus of the game. Kuminga was -18 in 22 minutes 😳,” a fan pointed out. Despite putting up 16 points on 6/14 shooting (which isn’t very efficient), JK finished with a -18 plus/minus in just 21 minutes. This means the opposing team outscored the Warriors by 18 points while Kuminga was on the floor. It suggests that his presence hurt the team, whether due to poor defense, bad decision-making, or lack of contribution beyond scoring. Essentially, his points were empty; They didn’t help the team win.

Meanwhile, a Warriors fan blamed Steve Kerr for the recent fumbles. They commented: “The blame for our recent poor play falls on Kerr’s shoulders. He’s seeing what JK is doing on the court and he’s just letting it happen.” Kerr is getting the heat for not holding Jonathan Kuminga accountable for his poor play. They feel the HC is allowing Kuminga’s mistakes instead of benching him or making strategic changes.

However, some fans felt for Kuminga as he was away from the NBA for three months with a right ankle sprain. Therefore, they wrote: “Bro he just came back from missing almost 3 months give him a few games” and “Guy is just coming back from injury…Chill ..but all the same, we need to trade him at the end of the season..he can’t play defense.”

Surely, being absent cannot justify poor defense and the flaws that were a bit too loud to be ignored. Is Steve Kerr ready to send JK away? That’s a bigger question because previously the 59YO coach admitted he loves coaching the forward.