Building Bridges: The Bond Between Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga

After being suspended for the second time this season, Draymond Green was temporarily away from the Golden State Warriors’ practice facilities and spent time at home in Los Angeles participating in psychological counseling and online meetings to work out the conditions on for return.

Green missed 16 games after punching Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face during the Warriors’ loss on Dec. 13. During the nearly four weeks, Green stayed in touch with teammates Stephen Curry and Chris Paul and Warriors coach Steve Kerr And he receives messages every day from Tom Izzo, the coach of his alma mater, Michigan State University.

On the other hand, the 34-year-old Green was also in frequent contact with Jonathan Kuminga, the 21-year-old forward he replaced as a starter. During Green’s suspension, he would send messages to Kuminga after almost every game, including notes, videos of game clips, and voice messages about Kuminga’s performance. information….

Kuminga told ESPN: “He watches games at home on film, and that’s a testament to the value of having a future Hall of Famer and a team that will rely on him in the lead-up to the playoffs, which will most likely be . starting with the Western Conference playoffs.” For a team with young forwards, the conversation between Green and Kuminga is valuable.

“I want to learn everything he knows,” said Kuminga, “With him, if you don’t compete as hard as you can, he won’t stop (giving advice).”

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Their relationship had its ups and downs before reaching this point, Kuminga’s performance as a substitute early in the season was inconsistent, and Green’s erratic behavior on the court did not help matters.

In a loss to the Timberwolves on November 14, Green was suspended for five games for choking Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Kuminga started in his place in the next game, a loss to the Thunder on November 16. He scored a season-best performance of 21 points.

But this performance did not last long, as Warriors head coach Steve Kerr chose to start Paul and form a three guard lineup with Curry and Klay Thompson. In the next four games, Kuminga returned to the bench.

Green was suspended for hitting Nurkic in just six games after returning from the Gobert choking incident. This was a turning point for the 6-foot-7 Kuminga – he averaged 100 points per game in the 16 games without Green. His performance was 18.4 point solidified his place in the starting lineup.

However, the Warriors’ defense was ranked 28th in the league at the time, and they won five games in a row in mid-December but lost seven of the next 10 games. When Green returned to the team on January 15 and the team’s winning percentage fell below 50% again, Kerr chose to start Green and Kuminga at the same time.

This has helped them establish an effective partnership on the court – the Warriors have a record of 17 wins and 8 losses this season when the two start. On the offensive end, Kuminga’s shooting rate is as high as 73% when receives passes directly from Gwyrdd The second-highest number between two teammates in the league.

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Photo Credit: Getty Images They also have the most defensive efficiency of any duo in the Western Conference that has played more than 500 minutes together, according to Second Spectrum.

The Warriors have not finished higher than ninth in the Western Conference since mid-November and are competing with the Lakers for the final two spots. But with less than a month left in the playoffs, the Warriors are banking on the growing connection between Kuminga and Green.

Kuminga was closely linked with Green before he was selected by the Warriors with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft.

“It was one of the reasons I came here,” said Kuminga. “Before they drafted me, he called (former Warriors general manager) Bob (Myers) and told him to bring me to the Warriors. I feel like that’s what happened in my life. One of the most important things that ever happened.”

Jarrett Jack, Green’s former teammate, was the first person to call Green’s attention to Kuminga. He played in the NBA for 13 seasons, including the 2012-13 season with the Warriors, and coached Green as a rookie. He later played with Kuminga on the NBA. G League Ignite team and his career ends in 2021.

The biggest doubt that Kuminga faced during the draft process was that he needed more time to develop, but this did not matter to Green. He often participated in the Warriors’ draft meetings and coached potential players, and he sent messages to Myers encourages him to choose .Cuminga.

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Green said of Kuminga: “You know he’s got talent, he’s only got a few years, and for me to have Jarrett Jack tell me he’s good is huge.”

However, Kuminga didn’t accept Green’s coaching style at first – at least not enough for Green, who has had a say in the Warriors for a long time.

Last June, Green had a long phone conversation with Warriors owner Joe Lacob in Paris. Green had just agreed to a new four-year contract, but Joe Lacob also presented an unexpected condition that would not be written in black and white.

Green recalled: “Joe said, ‘I know you can play ball, lead the team and all that, but you need to do one more thing.’ He said, ‘I need you to pay special attention to JK.'”

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Photo Credit: Getty Images Warriors assistant coach Anthony Vereen also played a key role in helping Green develop a better relationship with Kuminga this season. Vereen has worked with Kuminga since he was drafted and understands that the best way to coach Kuminga is to build a foundation in the gym and off the court.

“The coaches I respect the most because they’ve taught me more about life than just basketball,” Vereen told ESPN. “Once you can help anyone become better at solving problems and dealing with adversity, the basketball part is easier.”

Kuminga moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he was 13 and spent his entire high school career in West Virginia, New York, New Jersey and Indiana, while also spending time in Miami. He spent one season in the Orlando G League bubble in the spring of 2021 before being drafted.

Vereen said, “I just got to know him and understand how much he’s been through in life.” Vereen gave Green some insights, and Green began to take care of Kuminga’s situation. Sometimes in the locker room, sometimes on the team bus and planes or through text messages, the conversations ranged from asking each other how they were doing to discussing family or life advice.

“I can relate to him taking care of everyone in his family,” Green said. “You can tell he’s the head of the family, and I can sympathize with that part. I can relate to him being 21 years old and having this responsibility “Pressure, through empathy and understanding, I really wanted to help him.”

“(Green) was one of the people who knew me, but nobody knew me like he did,” said Kuminga. “He spent a lot of time and was worried about me.”

“He would ask me questions about basketball. He spent a lot of time getting to know me, and it really took our relationship from business to a closer relationship.”

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During Green’s suspension, he saw Kuminga’s offensive attributes – he needs to face the defense in a different way and use his speed and athleticism to get the upper hand on breaks and any confrontations in the paint.

“He can always jump out of trouble,” Green said of his advice to Kuminga. “Nobody can keep up with him, and most of our guys have to find angles and different ways to score. But when you run into any trouble, just jump.”

Green also told Kuminga that his best place to create shots for himself was in the mid-range, an observation that Kuminga and Vereen confirmed through data and began applying to the court.

Vereen said: “He (Kuminga) told me: ‘AV, if I dribble one more time I can make a layup.’ He saw that it opened up a lot of possibilities for him and the team, and then he committed to the layup. “and made the right judgments.”

According to Second Spectrum, Kuminga’s 63% cut frequency puts him in the top 10 among players with at least 75 attempts. He averaged 10 points in the paint per game, the most by a Warriors player in the paint since Kevin Durant in 2016-17.

As Green worked to help him, Kuminga also worked to improve communication with Kerr. The issue, in particular, came to light after the loss to the Nuggets on January 4, when The Athletic noted that Kuminga had lost confidence in Kerr. Kuminga told reporters the following day that he and Kerr met “to get to know each other better.”

Since then, he has started visiting Kerr’s office more often, and has brought his family to spend more time with the team. “There’s a level of trust that comes naturally when you get to know someone better,” Kerr told ESPN of his relationship with Kuminga.

Kuminga also told ESPN that he has never asked for a trade and hopes to stay with the Warriors. Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy expressed similar thoughts before the Feb. 8 trade day, telling reporters that Kuminga is “one of the best untouchable players in the league.”

This has allowed Kuminga to build closer bonds that he didn’t have when he first joined the Warriors, especially with his teammates in the front court.

“That’s what he’s waiting to see from me – how am I going to respond to certain things? When that’s the right response, then everything falls into place,” said Kuminga.

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文章編譯參考:How Jonathan Kuminga formed a bond with Draymond Green: ‘You have to show him you’re ready’

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