Steve Kerr shared a piece of troubling news just before the Golden State Warriors‘ offensive issue reared its ugly head anew in their 118-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, January 25, at home.
Kerr said Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors’ third-best scorer and their most prolific driver, “is not close to coming back.”
“He was on a bike just now,” Kerr said, Marc Grandi of 97.5 The Game. “He has not been on the court in any capacity other than just shooting stationary shots. It’s going to be some time [before he comes back].”
Kuminga has been out since January 4, when he suffered a significant lateral ankle sprain during the Warriors’ 121-113 win. It was announced he will be re-evaluated in three weeks. So, the Warriors will provide a new update on Kuminga’s recovery anytime soon.
The Warriors are now 4-7 since Kuminga’s injury. He was averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists before he was sidelined.
Latest Loss Shows Warriors’ Issues
The Warriors have been missing Kuminga’s dynamic play, especially his rim attacks.
Their loss to the bigger Lakers showed how they sorely missed Kuminga, especially on a night Stephen Curry was limited to just 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting. The Lakers held Curry scoreless in the second half.
“We got 46 threes up — 17 more than [the Lakers] did,” Kerr told reporters after the loss. “We know we have to be a three-point shooting team to win. We don’t really get to the line a whole lot or get a lot of easy buckets.”
And when their outside shots are falling, the Warriors look like a lottery team.
Kuminga could have helped.
The rising Warriors star is at his best when he’s inside the paint — 7.2 of his 13.2 field goal attempts come within 10 feet from the basket with a 57.1% success rate. He was also their most prolific free throw shooter, averaging a team-best 3.4 makes on 5.3 attempts.
The Impact of Jonathan Kuminga’s Absence
Since they lost Kuminga to injury, the Warriors have the second-least attempts from less than five feet to the basket with only 23.1. They were 11th with 29 attempts per game before Kuminga’s injury.
The Warriors’ 15 made field goals from less than five feet to the basket are in the bottom three over their last 10 games without Kuminga. They were tied for 13th with 17.9 made per game before Kuminga went down.
Their 11.6 made and 15.7 free throw attempts ranked last in their last 10 games without Kuminga. Before his injury, the Warriors were a little better at 25th with 20.6 free throw attempts. Their 14.7 made free throws were still the league’s worst even before Kuminga’s lengthy absence. It became a much bigger issue without him.
While Kuminga could have helped, he cannot fix the multi-layer Warriors’ issues alone. They need more help. But the dilemma is that Kuminga is also one of the most valuable trade chips.
Jonathan Kuminga Out Longer Than 3 Weeks, Says Doctor
Dr. Nirav Pandya, a professor at the Orthopedic Surgery department of the University of California, San Francisco and director of sports medicine at Benioff Children’s Hospital, said Kuminga could miss more than three weeks.
“Anytime you have a player who at the time of injury, the team’s already saying, ‘Hey, this is a severe injury.’ It’s a little bit more significant,” Dr. Pandya said on “Willard and Dibs” show on 95.7 The Game on January 8. “Even before you get an MRI, based on how he looks, you do get a little bit more concerned.
“And when you see this three-week re-evaluation timeline, it doesn’t mean typically, that he’s going to be quote, unquote, playing in three weeks. It could be another three to four weeks afterward. So when you get these more moderate to severe sprains, you’re looking at six weeks.”
Dr. Pandya noted that Kuminga’s injury could have an impact on his performance when he returns as he’s the type of player who relies on his explosiveness.
