“Relationship That Stay Forever”: With 4x Champ Retiring, Jonathan Kuminga Describes ‘Bond’ With New Teammates Chris Paul and Rudy Gay

Playing for the Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga has been surrounded by some of the greatest players ever. Apart from teaming up with guys like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, Kuminga has been mentored by Andre Iguodala. Early on in his career, Kuminga was taken under the 4x Champ’s wings. However, now that Iggy has retired, the youngster is trying to create a strong bond with his new mentor figures.

Jonathan Kuminga had a superb outing against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of the Warriors’ preseason. Playing for 24 minutes, the forward lodged 24 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. After recording an impressive outing, Kuminga spoke about his relationship with Chris Paul and Rudy Gay. With Iguodala retired now, the youngster spoke to NBCS, revealing how he’s been under the mentorship of the two veterans.

Chris Paul and Rudy Gay are playing an Andre Iguodala-type role for Jonathan Kuminga

Andre Iguodala played a mentor role for Jonathan Kuminga during the first two seasons of his career. With Dre constantly supporting the 6ft 8” star, the latter put up terrific numbers – 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. Even though Iggy has retired from the game, he hasn’t stopped giving valuable insights to the former G-League Ignite player. The 21-year-old disclosed how the four-time Champ still spoke to him every single day.

“My first two years with Andre was great. I took him as my bigger brother. We always talked… We still talk every day. He is still giving me knowledge, still telling me what I need to do every day to get better.

Now, Chris Paul and Rudy Gay have replaced Iguodala in terms of playing the mentor role for Jonathan Kuminga. Lauding the two veterans, the athletic forward spoke about wanting lifelong relations with them.

“We got Rudy Gay now, we got CP. Those two people always come and talk to me every single day. I’m trying to create that relationship that gon’ stay forever and throughout my career I want them to be there every single day, helping me… They’ve been around this league… just gaining knowledge from those guys, every single day, helping me.”

As Andre Iguodala did in the past, veterans Chris Paul and Rudy Gay have taken Jonathan Kuminga under their wings this season 🙌 pic.twitter.com/MK3FmP1UV3

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 8, 2023

Chris Paul, who himself had a solid first performance in the GSW uniform, was left in awe after seeing Kuminga ball out. Praising his mentee, CP3 hyped Kuminga in the postgame press conference:

“JK can hoop, man.”

Kuminga is concentrating on improving his rebounding

As seen in videos, Jonathan Kuminga has been working on different aspects of his game. However, rebounding is the one attribute that the 21-year-old has paid much more attention to. In fact, the 2022 NBA Champ revealed that the Bay Area side’s coaches have also been working to improve his rebounding.

JK is working to improve his rebounding and says the coaches stop practice if he’s not crashing the glass 😂 pic.twitter.com/r6epTEe18c

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 8, 2023

It seems like the training has been paying off. Going up against the California side filled with players who crash the glass, Kuminga finished the duel with a game-high of eight rebounds. Yes, one game is an extremely small sample size to judge anything. But from what analysts have been predicting, Kuminga is one of the favorites to compete for the Most Improved Player honor.