Golden State asked Draymond Green to mentor Jonathan Kuminga as part of new contract

This seems to finally be the season that Jonathan Kuminga moved into the starting lineup, after years of trying to find his best version in Golden State. The young star is playing with extreme confidence, especially as he’s displaying averages of 19.2 points on 51.6% shooting per contest ever since the All-Star break. 

Back in November, for example, he was only averaging 11.3 points per match on 45.5%. As the forward is building his own case for the Most Improved Player award, his squad has revealed the reasons behind this surge of success. According to the latest reports, a lot has to do with Draymond Green‘s mentorship.

During the past offseason, the Warriors extended their power forward to a four-year, $100 million contract, and explained they wanted him to embrace his veteran role and teach the youngsters all he knew. In a conversation with ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, she shared Green’s take on his new purpose.

Jonathan Kuminga explained how Warriors teammate Draymond Green fuels him with a powerful compliment 🤝https://t.co/9HC7zQq3FR

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 15, 2024

“Last June, Green sat on his phone in Paris with team owner Joe Lacob on the other end. Green had just agreed to a new four-year deal, but Lacob had one more contingency that wouldn’t show up in the paperwork,” the insider expressed recently.

As for the four-time champion, he recalled when Joe Lacob asked for him to specifically take care of his 21-year-old teammate. “Joe said, ‘I know you’re going to play and lead and all of that, but I need one more thing,’” he told ESPN. “He said ‘I need you to take JK under your wing. I said, ‘You got my word …To me, that was a condition of the contract.”

However, Draymond got into trouble this season and at one point was suspended for 16 games. Kuminga then revealed that he was present even during his time out. “Him watching the games at home, it was him watching film, pretty much, and it actually helped me understand who I am,” he revealed.

It seems that this relationship has paid off so far, as Golden State now seem to be likely to make the Western Conference play-in tournament.

“I wanted to pick up everything he knows,” Jonathan claimed. “With him, he won’t just give [advice] up if you don’t compete big-time. “You have to show him that you’re ready. Your mentality has to be different.”

Teammates Green and Kuminga tell the story of how their relationship first began in the Bay Area

Even before the rising star was selected by the Warriors as their No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the relationship between him and Draymond had already started. According to Kuminga, the four-time champion was one of the main reasons why he landed in California.

“He is one of the reasons I even ended up here,” the youngster shared recently. “Before they drafted me he called [former Warriors general manager] Bob [Myers] and told him to bring me here. I think that was one of the greatest things to have ever happened.”

When Green tells the story, he said that his former teammate Jarret Jack was the first to tell him to watch Jonathan when he was still in college. Eventually, the power forward texted general manager Bob Myers to implore him to go for the future star.

“You knew the gift was there,” Green said of a teenage Kuminga. “He would just need a few years. And for me, having Jarrett Jack telling me he’s good, that means a lot.”