In the aftermath of the Warriors' narrow win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night at Chase Center, Steph Curry offered up his take on the Jonathan Kuminga situation that has been enveloping the team recently.
Kuminga logged a season-high 36 minutes of action, in stark contrast to Thursday night's fourth-quarter benching against the Nuggets, which stoked the fires of controversy with sources close to Kuminga telling The Athletic that the forward had “lost faith in coach Steve Kerr.”
After some playful banter with The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II during his postgame press conference Friday, Curry was asked directly what his take on the situation with playing time was, empathizing with Kuminga.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"I’ve been there before, he’s not wrong in being upset and pissed off, wanting to play," Curry said. "[He] probably should have played – not probably, actually [should have played]."
Curry reiterated his support for Kuminga and explained that concerns over playing time are universal on every NBA team.
“Like I said, he’s not wrong for being upset and frustrated,” Curry said. “I heard coach [Kerr] talk about -- he was kind of half joking but serious -- 15 years he was always upset about playing time, and how that’s a talking point in every locker room in some way shape or form.”
Golden State Warriors
Curry explained that it can be challenging for any NBA player to express a desire for more playing time in a productive way, and that he was proud of how Kuminga played against Detroit.
“To your point, the ultimate challenge for anybody in this league is to not let the narrative be told for you, and you not to be able to address that with your own voice or directly with coach or whatever the case is,” Curry told reporters. “There are ways to express it, ways to voice your opinion but protect the team and I’m just proud of the way, we talked about before the game, but he go out and play, go hoop and be a professional, and that’s what he did tonight.”
In addition to his season-high in minutes, Kuminga scored in double figures for the 15th consecutive game, something that Kerr will have to consider as he continues to make lineup tweaks, especially now with Chris Paul’s hand injury that will keep him out indefinitely.The Warriors currently sit at 17-18 and are in 10th place in the Western Conference, in fringe playoff contention. With Paul out and Draymond Green’s reinstatement from his indefinite suspension, more lineup shuffling is on the way as Golden State tries to find their rhythm on the court.