The Big Lead

Steve Kerr benches another young star, this time with the Warriors

By Joe Lago

Oct 18, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr directs his team during action against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Oct 18, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr directs his team during action against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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Steve Kerr knows what he's doing.

Amid all of the consternation over Jayson Tatum's Team USA benching at the Paris Olympics, Kerr achieved the main objective last summer in France by leading the Americans to the gold medal. Will the supposed disrespect of Tatum, a first-team All-NBA forward and reigning NBA champion, incite a season-long revenge tour against the NBA? We shall see. Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla hopes so.

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Kerr made another surprising lineup call Tuesday before his Golden State Warriors played the first of back-to-back games against the New Orleans Pelicans. He benched forward Jonathan Kuminga in a decision that drew a similar "Oh, what is Kerr doing now?" vibe from the summer with Team USA. But the change was warranted.

As he explained after the Warriors' 124-106 win (without Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and DeAnthony Melton), Kerr took Kuminga out of the starting lineup to create "more spacing on the floor" with Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Kuminga sat in favor of guard Brandin Podziemski but was told by Kerr that he would "play a lot."

"All it is, is just shuffling the lineup to try to get the right five-man grouping," Kerr said. "But without Steph and Wiggs, to me, it didn't make sense to start the three bigs without those guards."

Kuminga's benching is just the latest chapter of what's been a roller-coaster Warriors tenure.

Drafted seventh overall in 2021, the talented 22-year-old took a leap forward last season by averaging a career-high 16.1 points per game, but he has yet to fully entrench himself in the Golden State starting lineup. The inconsistent play and constant push-and-pull over playing time left Kuminga without a contract extension before the season. He'll enter restricted free agency next summer.

Playing for a payday should be enough incentive. But again, Kerr knows what he's doing. He said he benched Kuminga because he needed spacing (i.e. more shooting), but he might have been trying to motivate his young star after three mediocre games.

The fourth-year pro responded with his best performance of the season: 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 28 minutes.

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