Kuminga trying to build ‘bigger legacy,’ follow Mutombo’s footsteps

Kuminga trying to build ‘bigger legacy,’ follow Mutombo’s footsteps originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SAN FRANCISCO – Days before Jonathan Kuminga’s rookie contract extension deadline came and went, the 22-year-old Warriors forward spoke with NBC Sports Bay Area on a special edition of “Dubs Talk.”

Kuminga maintained the notion he was putting all his trust in his agent, Aaron Turner, whether the two sides could come to a deal or if he would enter next offseason as a restricted free agent. Turner is President of the Verus Management Team, a small agency, which Kuminga feels more comfortable with as opposed to one of the bigger agencies where a player’s priorities can be put to the side. Though he’s only in his fourth NBA season, Kuminga has known Turner for five or six years now and considers him family.

Good game or bad while going through the ups and downs of an NBA season, Kuminga says Turner always has seen the bigger vision in Kuminga. The two hardly even talk about basketball. How Kuminga, in his words, saw his contract situation was a larger-scale view of how he’s looking at his entire basketball career and the years after.

It’s not about one big contract. It’s about the legacy of a kid representing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following the ways of Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo and the Warriors legends he has learned from.

“With me, I’m trying to build a bigger legacy,” Kuminga said. “I’m trying to follow [Dikembe] Mutombo’s footsteps. Being very global, being one of the kids from Africa who will do even so much more. And trying to keep with the same legacy as Mutombo, as certain guys who came from Africa.”

Quieting the noise can’t always be easy for professional athletes, especially one with untapped potential and star expectations as a former top draft pick who won a championship as a rookie. Kuminga made a Year 3 leap last season, averaging 16.1 points and showing longer stretches of consistency and more moments of what Warriors owner Joe Lacob and others envisioned when they took him with their first of two first-round picks in the 2021 draft.

Kuminga knew Turner and the Warriors were talking contract numbers and what the two sides thought made the most sense ahead of the deadline. He also did everything he could to keep his mind off dollar figures and focus solely on basketball in an offseason that was a business lesson in real time as Klay Thompson’s time with the Warriors came to an end.

“The one thing I realized is it’s always business,” Kuminga said. “The more you think about what’s going on, the more you’re going to be here mad and not focused on what’s bigger, instead of focusing on basketball.”

Pictures of Kobe Bryant hung all over Kuminga’s childhood home. The greatest gift his parents could give him was money for the Internet cafe to watch highlights of Bryant. Years later when Kuminga was a top high school prospect, he had the opportunity of meeting Bryant after a Los Angeles Lakers game and was shocked the icon knew who he was.

And while Kuminga still has dreams of being the next Kobe, once he was drafted by the Warriors he simply needed to look to his left and look to his right in being around examples of what he wants his life to be, both on and off the court.

The Warriors’ young core of Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis don’t need a group text of sharing goals to become the franchise’s next stars in carrying the torch and creating a dynasty of their own. It’s better left unsaid. The culture is felt.

Kuminga sees how Steph Curry carries himself. The way Draymond Green turned himself into a defensive mastermind and future Hall of Famer as a 6-foot-6 former second-round pick who has spent more than a decade slaying giants. The way Thompson attacked rehab. How Kevon Looney doesn’t need to be loud to hold the respect of a room, and the daily sage advice Andre Iguodala shared.

There’s a responsibility in being a Warrior, and Kuminga knows it.

“Coming into the league, especially being drafted here, that’s just how you should look at things. That’s the goal, that’s how you should look at your life,” Kuminga says. “If you focus your mind towards things that you see, what other people have done like Steph, like Draymond, obviously Klay isn’t with us anymore and he’s on a new team, but looking at that path, that’s what you want to do. And you have to work as hard as you can. You have to be damn near perfect.

“I’m not saying you have to be perfect, because we’re all not perfect, but if that’s what you’re looking for, your goal is to achieve that goal. That’s what I’m always focusing on, and those same footsteps.”

One of the closer relationships Kuminga has on the Warriors is with someone nearly 13 years older than him who now is in his 13th NBA season. Iguodala is no longer the teammate pushing Kuminga. Green has taken on that role, and Kuminga constantly is trying to absorb as much knowledge from him as he can consume, especially the small nuances of the game, understanding that’s what can take him to the next level.

Green believes a successful season for Kuminga is nothing short of being an All-Star with the 2025 festivities staying at home for the Warriors at Chase Center. For that to happen, Green says Kuminga needs to average around 20 points and seven rebounds, knowing that he’s capable of reaching those numbers.

In fact, Green has been preaching for Kuminga to have the All-Star Game on his mind since the start of last season. Kuminga hears Green’s motivation, but it was his deeper words of encouragement that made Kuminga go home and reflect on a greater respect for his teammate. Mentors take pride in their mentees, watering their seeds and watching them grow into a bouquet that deserves and earns admiration.

The relationship of Green and Kuminga isn’t any different. Their paths and basketball gifts are. Green’s legacy is established. Kuminga hasn’t even scratched the surface, with Green knowing just how far he can go and relishing each new flower that blooms along his journey.

“He was like, ‘All your success is my success. The more you succeed, it makes me proud. It makes me proud, it makes me happy.’” Kuminga shared. “There’s not too many people that are going to tell you that. He told me, ‘Anything you do in life – you sign a contract, you buy your parents a house, I want to know because it makes me happy.’

“Hopefully if I become an All-Star, or any success that I could achieve in life, I can always go back to Draymond and say, ‘Thank you. You helped me.’ Helping is not giving someone money. Helping is not buying somebody things. Helping is giving somebody some small knowledge.

“Since I’ve been here, he’s been hard on me, giving me knowledge every single day. Checking on me, just small things like that.”

If that sounds more like a brother than a teammate, that’s because it is. When locker rooms are at their best, there really isn’t any difference in their distinction aside from title.

Kuminga was only 18 years old when the Warriors drafted him No. 7 overall, and had been 19 for 24 days when he made his debut in a blowout win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The teenage version of Kuminga didn’t open up right away to teammates. Being vulnerable doesn’t come naturally. Time is needed.

That has changed for Kuminga, and he’s better for it. He’s allowed people like Green into his life, opening up about where he’s from to find common ground despite differences. The thinking has widened Kuminga’s worldview as well, allowing him to look past any preconceived notions on people and teammates, including Green.

“I used to think Draymond is just … I don’t know how to describe it, but I ended up finding out Draymond is a good person,” Kuminga said. “A great father to his kids, a great husband to his wife, a great leader, a great mentor, a great son.”

Kuminga then lists the likes of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Looney, Moody, Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II as examples as well – some who already have made their mark forever in Warriors history, and others who continue working to reach that point.

“I had to learn about all those people, and they all became my brothers,” Kuminga says.

Legacy sounds singular. It’s not. To build a legacy in the likes of Mutombo, to emulate Warriors legends, Kuminga is proudly a byproduct of a family beyond bloodlines, better understanding the beauty in it all each and every day.

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