The Golden State Warriors pose a strange problem to head coach Steve Kerr. He simply has too many tools at his disposal and it all stems to the fit Jonathan Kuminga brings to the table. The 22-year-old was benched i.e. DNP-CD in a questionable decision made by Kerr during the Warriors’ 82nd game against the Clippers, leading to quite the analogy from Shannon Sharpe.
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The seeding implications were massive during this Warriors-Clippers bout. It meant the difference between a week’s long rest and a guaranteed Playoff spot to being in the treacherous waters of the play-in tournament.
In an OT game that came down to a missed, potential game-tying three from Buddy Hield, the Warriors lost 124-119. There are quite a few moments within the game that can be used to pin this loss onto. The Draymond Green missed layup and Buddy getting the ball for the game-tying shot instead of Steph Curry are two such instances.
It’s the Kuminga benching however that has been on Dubs fans’ radars all night. Sharpe took to his show Nightcap to make sense of the ordeal amidst GSW’s fall to the 7th seed, leading to a matchup against the Grizzlies.
“If you make a mistake, coaches don’t have patience for that,” said Shannon when referring to ‘young guys’ like Jonathan. “What irked Coach Belichick the most? Mistakes.”
Bill Belichick, while he was known to trust his guys when they do well, he did also have quite the short leash. Benching Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII is one such example that Patriots fans still aren’t all too clear on regarding the reasoning behind it.
Chad Johnson was quite shocked to hear this take from Sharpe, questioning him, “Hold on Unc, is the leash that much shorter for NBA players?” The Broncos reiterated his point with a simple head nod.
What did Kerr say about the Kuminga benching?
“We’ve just found a group since Jimmy got here that we’re pretty comfortable with,” was what Kerr said regarding the Kuminga DNP-CD. Similar to Daniel Adelman’s ideology to play the best 5 guys in that game, during the game, Kerr kept his options open.
“I didn’t tell him he wasn’t going to play because I wasn’t sure if he was going to play or not,” continued Kerr. Despite being down in the clutch and having to play catch-up, he didn’t feel as though there was any need to have him enter the lineup at any point during the bout.
Steve Kerr on why Jonathan Kuminga didn’t play today:
“We’ve just found a group since Jimmy got here that we’re pretty comfortable with… both [Gui Santos] and JK have been really impactful players for us. It doesn’t mean they’re out of the loop going forward, this is just how… pic.twitter.com/rl7ay3yfag
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 13, 2025
While this may seem like an egregious mistake from Kerr (it very well could be), there is a simple ideology behind this. Having three non-shooters in Draymond, Butler, and Kuminga out there next to Steph and an emerging Podz isn’t ideal.
The aforementioned non-shooting trio has shared the floor a combined 38 minutes and in those measly minutes managed to rack up a paltry -24.9 net rating. While the sample size is small, it’s perhaps enough for Kerr and his coaching staff to pull the plug on them sharing the floor for even a second.
Though, not having him play a single minute is borderline lunacy, especially when what the Warriors have to show for it is a monumentally consequential loss. Staggering his minutes along with Butler’s would likely be the most apt outcome as having such a talent get repeatedly benched would not wise.
