“Look at Where Giannis is Now”: Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Compares Jonathan Kuminga to Giannis Antetokounmpo
Steve Kerr saw some similarities between Giannis Antetokounmpo and youngster Jonathan Kuminga during the Golden State Warriors January game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Steve Kerr’s mettle as a coach was put to the ultimate test during the 2021–22 NBA season. The Warriors began to fade after a hot start to the season, in part due to Stephen Curry’s shooting slump. They managed to maintain their composure, and they were moving along quite well to finish the season as a Top-2 seed. That is before Draymond Green became hurt.
Kerr played his younger players a lot more minutes than most would have anticipated during this period, including Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. This season, Kuminga participated in 70 games and started 12.
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Steve Kerr’s outrageous comparison of Kuminga to Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Bucks vs. Dubs game in January 2022 was challenging since the MVP of the Finals at the time was bullying the Bucks. They ultimately lost the game 118–99. Steve Kerr, though, discussed Giannis and likened his rookie year to that of a Warriors rookie after the defeat.
Steve Kerr:
“When you look at where Giannis is now, and you think about him as a rookie, you got to think about [Jonathan Kuminga].”
(via @markhaynesnba) pic.twitter.com/YP0pU1vxgU
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 21, 2022
In his first season, Giannis scored 6.8 points, grabbed 4.4 rebounds, and handed out 1.9 assists in 24.6 minutes. Kuminga has already gained ground. In 16.9 minutes, he contributed 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists on average.
Jonathan Kuminga may not turn out to be as good as Giannis, but I’m not discounting the possibility either. It’s ridiculous. Kuminga is really athletic and relatively raw talent, exactly as Giannis was when he was a youngster, so I get it. However, not every adolescent with talent who is extremely athletic and raw is Giannis. Because no one is Giannis, he is known as Giannis.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a one-of-one player. Comparing a capable young shooter to Steph Curry would be analogous. Therefore, as you can see, Steve Kerr probably wants Kuminga to leap for a number of reasons.
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