A Warriors player just dropped a “blockbuster” sentence comparing IQ and sports. Fans are 100% sure it’s referring to Kuminga, what’s the reason?
In virtually any other Warriors preseason, this innocuous quote from newly resigned Warriors guard Pat Spencer would’ve been barely a footnote.
“If you’re the kind of guy who can connect the dots, but also do some other things, like I said, knock the 3-ball down, there’s always going to be a place for you in the league,” Spencer said during his postgame press conference Sunday following a 111-103 preseason win over the Lakers. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of organizations that are stuck in the bottom that continue to value length and athleticism over IQ. And they tend to stay in the lottery every year.”
Fans immediately connected a few dots of their own, pointing to Jonathan Kuminga — the NBA’s current poster child for length and athleticism — who just concluded an exhausting free agency marathon with the Warriors where Kuminga (and even more so his agent) overvalued his worth.
“Pat Spencer telling us what the locker room really thinks of Kuminga,” one fan commented on X.
“Geez, I wonder who he’s talking about,” another replied.
Kuminga — who skipped playing college hoops in favor of signing a one-year deal with the NBA G League Ignite in 2020 — has at times looked like an All-Star for the Warriors, and at other times, he has looked virtually unplayable, as he was during a stretch of very public DNPs to start last year’s postseason. Golden State head coach Steve Kerr has seemed at a loss during large stretches of Kuminga’s career, as he’ll routinely make a highlight play on one end of the floor and a Hall of Fame boneheaded play on the other.
“I’ve been asked to win, and right now, he’s not a guy who I can say I’m gonna play 38 minutes with the roster that we have — Steph [Curry], and Jimmy [Butler], and Draymond [Green] — and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win,” Kerr said at the end of last season. “Doesn’t mean he’s not a really good player. Doesn’t mean he’s not talented. It just means with the fit and with the roster we have, it is tricky, there’s no question.”
Kerr has said he’d like to see Kuminga develop into a “ high-energy possession guy, like Shawn Marion, like Aaron Gordon” rather than a ball-dominant superstar scorer, but Kuminga seemingly hasn’t bought into Kerr’s vision.
Which brings us back to Spencer’s quote. Right or wrong, intentional or not, it basically hits the nail on the head regarding the Kuminga situation. The Warriors have been laser focused on what their former No. 7 overall pick’s length and athleticism could eventually become, while Kerr has been reluctant to wait on his basketball IQ (see: “fit”) to catch up. Guys like Spencer have oftentimes “fit” better with Curry than Kuminga because of their willingness to shape their games around one of the world’s greatest players to ever step onto a basketball court.
Former Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone echoed the Kuminga quandry while sitting in ESPN’s studio during the Sunday’s Warriors game: “He’s got to trust in Steve Kerr and show everybody that he’s willing to buy into something much bigger than himself.”
In Sunday’s preseason win, Spencer played a team-high 21 minutes, finishing with 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Kuminga played 15 minutes and finished with five points, four assists and a team-high six rebounds.