Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green had a lot to say after his team suffered a 126-102 blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. While Green didn’t name Jonathan Kuminga in his rant, many analysts felt he was referring to the Congolese forward when he spoke about certain players on the Warriors having “a personal agenda” and not being committed to winning.
“It just doesn’t feel like everybody’s committed to winning right now,” Green told the media after the loss. “Everybody has a personal agenda in this league. But you have to make those personal agendas work within the team confines. And if it doesn’t work, then eventually that agenda gets you out of here.”
Throwing Kuminga Under the Bus?
Former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague and his “Club 520” podcast crew believe Green was referring to Kuminga with his comments, and he threw the 23-year-old under the bus. The most vocal proponent of this viewpoint was Marquis Teague, who felt Kuminga was unfairly taking the blame for Golden State losing three out of their last four games.
“Steph [Curry] only had 11 last night. Jimmy [Butler] had 12. Why y’all blaming Kuminga after the game?” asked Teague. “I’m just saying — there are other people out there… Why can’t you just say, ‘we’ll play better’ instead of blaming Kuminga?”
Warriors in Trouble?
The Warriors began the season 4-1, with the likes of Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody excelling in their roles to support the aging trio of Curry, Green and Butler. However, the tide has shifted over the past week or so, with Golden State’s youngsters struggling on both ends of the floor and seeing a dip in their production.
Kuminga, for example, is averaging 11.4 points and 6.4 rebounds at 40% shooting over his last six games, after tallying 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds at 55% shooting through his first six games.
As for Podziemski, the southpaw shot 41.4% from three in his first six games, while averaging 2.0 made threes. However, in his last six games, he is shooting a paltry 30% from deep, while converting on only 1.3 of his 3.3 attempts per game.
Jeff Teague believes the Warriors would be better off giving the returning De’Anthony Melton or Moody additional minutes, instead of relying so heavily on Podz.
“I feel like he gets way too much playing time,” Teague said of Podz, who is averaging 28.4 minutes per game this season, while starting in seven of the 12 games.
“I think some others could help the Warriors more. I think De’Anthony Melton is just as good a player as [Podziemski]. Moody is also just as good as Brandin.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Warriors Star Blasted for ‘Throwing Kuminga Under the Bus’ After Loss appeared first on Heavy Sports.