Fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga hasn’t played for the Golden State Warriors since their December 18 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he didn’t start the season on head coach Steve Kerr’s bad side. Kuminga averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 30.8 minutes through his first six games in October. He kept impressing through early November with a 17-point performance against the Indiana Pacers and a 24-point game against the Sacramento Kings.
By the second week of November, Kerr started reducing Kuminga’s minutes. This happened around the same time the Congolese forward suffered a knee injury. When Kuminga came back from injury, Kerr barely used him. Soon after, Kerr completely removed Kuminga from the rotation, a decision that confuses DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins played under Kerr with the Warriors and had strong words about how his former coach is handling Kuminga. On FanDuel TV’s Run it Back, Cousins said the situation looks like “self-sabotage.” “It’s a strange situation. It’s like self-sabotage,” he said, according to Heavy.com.
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Kerr’s approach is hurting the Warriors’ options
The retired All-Star is puzzled because Kuminga’s reduced role has reportedly lowered his trade value. This hurts Golden State’s chances of improving their roster before the February 5 trade deadline. “That’s why I’m saying Steve is the problem in this scenario,” Cousins stressed. “Like nothing that he’s doing right now is making sense. It’s pretty obvious.”
Cousins also criticized Kerr for not building confidence in his young players. He said Kerr speaks down to his team and doesn’t inspire confidence in the group. Cousins pointed out that development has been a problem for years, which explains why the Warriors are in their current position. This type of negative messaging and lack of energy only spreads to the rest of the players, similar to how financial struggles can destroy an athlete’s career.
Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas praised Kuminga during the same FanDuel TV segment for staying calm despite all the DNPs. Thomas said he gives Kuminga credit for not blowing up. He mentioned that Kuminga must have good veterans around him and good family support, because most NBA players would lose their cool in this situation.
Kerr spoke very highly of Kuminga at the start of the season. In late October, he praised the youngster’s maturity and said Kuminga found his spot with the group, playing alongside Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. However, Kerr’s tone has completely changed recently. The media attention on coaching decisions and player relationships has intensified, much like the controversy surrounding Smith’s alleged personal relationship.
On Thursday, Kerr said it would be tricky to start Kuminga, Butler, and Green at the 2, 3, and 4 positions. He said anyone can see that’s a tough combination based on shooting. Last year, when Kuminga also received DNPs, Kerr cited the lack of spacing with three non-shooters in the starting five.
But those spacing issues seemed to disappear during the first month of this season when Kuminga started next to Green and Butler. January 15 is the earliest date when Kuminga can be traded. The Sacramento Kings are reportedly the only team seriously interested in acquiring him.
Published: Jan 10, 2026 01:45 pm