Jonathan Kuminga | Warriors 2025 End of Season Interview

Jonathan Kuminga | Warriors 2025 End of Season Interview

Obviously, your future will become a hot topic uh as restricted free agency gets here. How do you just view um you know, your future here and your future in the league? [Music] I don’t know. Uh you know, I don’t know. I still got to figure it out. I don’t know. But, you know, I don’t know. I still got to figure it out. We just finished playing one day ago, so I don’t really I haven’t think about anything yet. How How difficult was I I mean really your four years here, but but particularly this season and kind of the yo-yoing in and out of the rotation, especially even in the playoffs. I mean, it was some ups and down and you know, that’s how life goes, but you know, I had fun. I had a great time. Uh I enjoyed playing, you know, here. Uh yeah, but there was some ups and down. Do you think you you proved something in these last few games just to the league, to your coach, to anybody? I don’t think about proving. I just should not go out there and win. Uh I think that was just my biggest thing to go out there and try to win. Uh yeah, Dr. mentioned that there was a defensive move you made coming off a guy again covering I guess Ant as he was cutting through that he said he point out that now you’re playing defense. Uh do you remember that moment and do you feel like you’ve really accelerated the way you think the defensive game? Uh I think defensively I got better so much better. Uh I think it talked to me about in the middle of the game. Uh, but I still got to see what action was it. Uh, but he talked to me in the middle of the game about it. JK, that was uh what’s your most playoff action that you’ve had since you’ve been here. How do you feel like that’s going to help you moving forward in developing your game? Uh, I think I just got to go back, you know, and and watch him. No, I still got to learn, you know, study those moments. Uh just got to go back there and just learn and just work towards and you know and see what else I could you know I could have done you know uh and if I ever get those type of chances again how I could be impactful you know how I could help us win in any by any means. How how much would you say you’ve grown in your four years here? I’ve grown a lot. Uh I have grown a lot. Uh when I look back from day one when I got here compared to now it’s like you know it’s a lot of things that you know people don’t see you know uh but me personally I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a player as a person. JK I mean would you need to hear from this team or your next team that you’re in the rotation? There’s going to be no question about that. Was that something you want to know when you go go decide your future? Uh I don’t know what the future’s going to be. Uh you know uh it’s something that any player would love to hear, you know, uh going to a different year. Uh so no, I’m looking forward to that and I know it’s going it’s going to happen. Somebody going to talk to me uh about how things will go next year. Um, but you know, I’m just looking forward to that. I don’t know I don’t know anything about what the future’s holding for me. So, but I’m just looking forward to it. Did Did the unsettled nature of your contract situation? Do do you think that had any impact on on the year? What’ you say? Just the fact that, you know, you were obviously extension eligible last summer, nothing got done. Do you think that had any impact on this past season? Not at all. Uh like I say, you know, uh I ain’t know what the future hold, you know, so anything that happened probably happened for a reason. Uh I’m just grateful to be here this time, you know. I still got a long summer to go to figure things out. How’s your ankle feeling? And just like how do you feel physically right now? No, I feel good. I feel good. Uh, I feel healthy and good. How were exit interviews today talking to Steve, talking to Mike? They were great. Uh, they were great. You know, uh, like I told all them, you know, I just things just and, you know, it’s going to take us time to, you know, figure it out what’s really going to happen, things like that. uh you know and I spoke to Steve about um know how he wanted me to know just get better at rebounding more and I feel like I was doing uh better before I got hurt. Uh and I like where he was going with it, you know. Uh he explained to me little things, you know, if I need a uh resource from him, you know, about things like that, you know, I should hit him up, you know, and I don’t have no problem doing that. I mean, you mentioned Steve, you feel like that relationship’s in a fine spot right now? I mean, uh, since I’ve been here, you know, we have we had ups and down, you know, uh, but, you know, he helped me to get here. So, uh, you know, and we had a lot of great moments. Uh, so, and I think our relationship been very good. uh you you’ve uh you you you have some options this off seasonason. You you can talk to other teams, etc. What is that like for you? Is it exciting? Is it is it nervous? Like what how do you feel? You know, I don’t know how that those things goes. You know, uh I think I’ll learn more going through the summer with my agent. Uh so I don’t know. Um, I don’t know how that will go, but it don’t really matter, you know. I’m just I’m going to keep that. I’m going let my agent in the things like that. Uh, and I just listen to, you know, what are you going to tell me? How was the season overall for you with playing your best basketball, then you suddenly have the longest injury of your career, then Jimmy Butler’s added and you come back essentially to a brand new team. What did you think about the the roller coasters this year? Uh it was tough. It was tough, you know, uh playing gray. Uh and then things like that happened, you know, I didn’t know I didn’t let it down, you know. I just went back and just rehab every other day, you know, try to get better. And I came back to a complete different team, you know, uh, and I had to figure I had to, you know, to be impactful uh, with that new team. Uh, you know, like I said, it was ups and downs, you know, but I didn’t put my head down and just say, I don’t want to get better or figure it out. You know, I tried to figure it out. Uh, so it was I had tough moments. Yeah. Overall, was this a a happy season for you? Was it a frustrating season? Like, no, it was actually a great season, especially, you know, I had to learn more about myself when I got hurt. You know, I had to change a lot of things. So, yeah, it was it was a I would say it was successful season. It was it was a great season. I’m not mad about it, Jonathan. along those lines. I mean, how did you emotionally kind of get through it all? Uh, you you always seem to be handling yourself pretty well. I mean, with the injury, you still I saw you still with a smile on your face, and that’s not always easy either to to be away from the game you love. And how did you get through some of those hard moments? Uh, just leaving a lot to God. Uh, you know, I have, uh, my mom, she a pastor. Uh, you know, she pray for me pretty much every other day. Um, I have good friendship. I have good friends, you know, I have great teammates. Uh, I have a good family that, you know, that keeps supporting me through, you know, anything no matter what. So, you know, just having those type of support uh around me kind of just helped me get through uh a lot of crazy times, you know, uh hard times. So, you know, just the support that I had around me kind of helped me go through everything. And a couple of your teammates who’ve been up here, they’ve said, you know, Jonathan’s gone through so many different things in four years, challenges, you know, ups, downs, like you mentioned. um more than most people and uh you still have a long career ahead of you. H has have any of those experiences prepared you to, you know, get through whatever the next challenge might be? Uh they really have taught me a lot. Uh like I say, you know, I they helped me grow more as a person, as a basketball player. Uh and you know, I feel like without those moments, you know, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. So, you know, sometimes I’m I’m glad they happened. Sometimes, you know, when I look back, I’m like, why did it happen to me? Uh, so I just try not to question myself uh a lot about those moments, you know. I just leave it to God. I go out there and pray. Uh, and I think those moments just kind of help me be who I am. Jonathan, I know you said you’re going to let your agent deal with the contract and everything, but is there is there a part of you that’s curious to see what how the rest of the league values you? I mean, uh, my age and I kind of, you know, like he would tell me here and there, but, you know, I try to tell him to just try to figure it out, especially when we get close to whatever got to be done. That’s when it comes to me and, you know, and ask me for my opinions. But throughout the season, I I never thought about things like that. Even right now, I haven’t even spoke to him what we going to do or what we going to figure it out. You know, I just tell him to take his time. You know, I’m going to take my time to figure it out what I’m going to do with my day cuz know I’m bored. So, uh once he heard something or or once he figured out something, he’s going to come back to me. Hello Jonathan. Uh obviously you obsess a long time but you said it’s a great season for you is a successful season but how you define this success? How you define as great? Um I would say just based of things I went through. Uh like I say the things that made it great is all the learning uh all the moments I share with my teammates uh you know just all the times I was here know and learning different things you know I think that’s what define uh a great season. Last season, uh, your off seasonason had a lot of travel, uh, Paris, Milan, etc. Um, do you have any destinations you’re going to this summer? I’m trying to stay local as much as I can this year. Uh, you know, feel like I have a great I want to have a great season, you know, next year. Uh, and I want to get better as much as I can, you know, trying to cut all the traveling and all the stuff like that to just stay lock in uh a workout and get better cuz, you know, I feel like I could, you know, I could do something better next year. You know, I could get better than what I did this year. So, you know, I’m just trying to lock in and just trying to get better. It’s like gym rat summer. Yeah. Also, as far as your agent negotiating things and numbers, letting him handle that, but is your communication style also just texting Steve and and Mike a little bit to say, “Hey, how you doing?” Like, do you want a little bit of that communication, too? I mean, for sure. Uh I haven’t I’m not going nowhere. I’m still here. So, you know, I would love to keep those type of relationship, you know, uh, know work, uh, kind of communicate with them, you know, throughout the summer and see seeing where what they’re thinking or, you know, how the vibe is, you know. Yeah. Cool. All right. Thank you, sir. You guys want anybody else?

Jonathan Kuminga met with the media to recap the Golden State Warriors 2024-25 season.