Jonathan Kuminga Reveals Inspiration for Improved Defense
Jonathan Kuminga has been an absolute force defensively for the shorthanded Warriors. He helped the team claw out a victory against the Charlotte Hornets, and seems to be much improving as a defender. The source of that improvement? His teammates.
Kuminga revealed that watching Draymond, Klay, Andre, and Wiggins play defense inspires him. He added that he "doesn't like" when people score on him.
Just how good was Kuminga in clutch time for the Warriors against the Hornets? Take a look at the tape.
Kuminga had a steal against PJ Washington, a clutch rebound, a dunk, an iso floater, and another dunk in the final three minutes of the game. It was a performance that drew praise from both Steve Kerr and Klay Thompson after the game.
"Incredibly proud," Klay Thompson said of Kuminga. "Just huge buckets down the stretch, while playing full-court defense on ball. Without his effort, we would not have won tonight. So, I'm incredibly proud of JK, he's coming into his own."
Steve Kerr even characterized Kuminga's performance as "brilliant."
"We went with him for his defense," Kerr said. "He was playing really well defensively and he was guarding LaMelo. Just wanted to stay with him because of the impact he was making on the ball with his energy. He made huge plays, defensively, and I thought that kind of led to a couple of offensive plays... I thought he was just brilliant."
It felt like all was lost for the Warriors once Steph Curry was injured. However, the improved play of players like Jonathan Kuminga helped show why the Warriors invested in their youth.
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