On Tuesday night, Jonathan Kuminga made his highly anticipated debut for the Atlanta Hawks after the Golden State Warriors decided to trade him along with Buddy Hield in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. And as it (unfortunately) happened, the Hawks’ main man and starting power forward Jalen Johnson had to exit early with a hip injury – paving the way for Kuminga to defeat the Washington Wizards in his first game with his new team.
Kuminga, in just 24 minutes off the bench, scored 27 points on 9-12 shooting from the field, leading all players in scoring in the process. If Johnson were to miss time for the Hawks, Kuminga would be called upon to take on a larger scoring load, and based on early returns, he is capable of doing so for a team looking to establish itself as a playoff team.
As a result of Kuminga’s lackluster first game in a Hawks uniform, some Warriors fans expressed disappointment that head coach Steve Kerr could not make things work in Kuminga’s five seasons with the team, especially after Golden State lost a close game against the lifeless New Orleans Pelicans.
“I’ll never forget what Kerr did to Kuminga,” wrote X user @__pettyhardaway.
“As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, some people are going to say, ‘Well, Kuminga didn’t do it for Golden State…’. Well, I say it, it’s hard to do anything off the bench,” @Rickygreeneyze said.
@klewis1123 added, “I see Kuminga had 27 days for ATL tonight…glad the GS decided he had no real use for that kind of athleticism, scoring or perimeter shooting.”
@RookieHigh reported, “Kuminga with 27 points on 12 shots in just 24 minutes… extremely talented but Kerr wanted to force him to be a corner screen setter.”
“The Warriors could have used Kuminga tonight but at least they have Porzingis… wait… Porzingis doesn’t play…” @NinerGangManny joked.
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