Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green came off the bench on Dec. 6, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, allowing youngster Jonathan Kuminga to take over the starting role. However, the Warriors suffered a 107-90 loss, prompting the coaching staff to put Green back in the starting lineup the following game.
Through all this, Green didn’t sulk about losing his starting spot. Instead, he was encouraging as he wants to see what Kuminga can do on the floor. The young forward had a 13-point outing in their loss against the Wolves but remained in the starting lineup the following game where he had 20 points.
On Wednesday, Green received compliments from former NBA star Kenyon Martin. Martin appeared at “Gil’s Arena” where he spoke highly of Green and his decision to let the younger forward play.
“This is what being a leader is about,” Martin said. “Whatever he had going on, no matter what it was, all the antics, the fights, the choke, whatever it is, I’ve never questioned his leadership. This is prime example of that.”
Gilbert Arenas, on the other hand, predicts Green won’t stay being on the bench for long. According to him, the decision to have the defensive forward to be with the second unit will remain “experimental.”
“Kuminga is a scorer, Draymond’s a facilitator. So everybody thrives off of how Draymond plays. He sacrifices his scoring for everyone else,” Arenas said. “When the starting five is not playing well, the only look will be Kuminga, to remove and bring him back off the bench because he’s focused on scoring.”
“I don’t see it lasting because if they lose 3, 4 in a row, and they’re starting off bad, they’re gonna look at him like it’s his fault. No matter how good he’s playing. You can see [Steve] Kerr backtracking on this move and it’s experimental for a couple of games.”
Draymond won’t come off the Warriors bench for long 💯 pic.twitter.com/y2uuJKaHB4
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 11, 2024
During the season, Kuminga has started in eight of his 21 games played. Overall, the 22-year-old forward is averaging 15.0 points, 4.3 assists and 1.8 assists.
Warriors head coach explained the team wants to explore Kuminga as the reason why they benched Draymond Green
The Warriors are slowly recovering from the trend of losing games. In their last three games, Golden State won two and made adjustments to their lineup. According to head coach Steve Kerr, the team is looking to maximize what Kuminga can do, which is why they opted to put Draymond Green on the bench.
“I wanna look at it. We’re trying to maximize Jonathan,” Kerr said. “Playing him with Wiggs. Playing Loon to start with that group means that Draymond doesn’t have to guard the opposing center right from the get-go, which I think is important. We can close with Draymond at the five. In theory, I like what it looks like.”
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
