I’m making myself a resolution more than three weeks ahead of the New Years variety. I vow to never again mention the name Jonathan Kuminga after January 15th — the date he becomes dispensable for the Golden State Warriors.
Jonathan Kuminga is a good player. Just not here.
This drama has gone on for more than a year now and I have little doubt but that his coach — and most of his teammates — are waiting for the date that they can rid themselves of what for them has become excess baggage.
I will readily admit to being a Steve Kerr fanboy. I’ve known him since he was in high school, called dozens of his games at Arizona and have kept a communication with him through his NBA playing days and later his coaching days.
This is what I know. Steve Kerr learned the game at the knee of the masters. He played for Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and he was mentored in college by Lute Olson. He was a student of the game while he was still using acne cream. He’s one of the smartest people I know — and not just in terms of basketball. He wants smart players around him whose abilities go beyond, dribbling, driving and shooting. He has a complex system built on spacing, vision and court savvy. His philosophy is, take good shots — and if somebody has a better one, get him the ball.
Jonathan Kuminga can dribble, drive, and score. And I’m sure he will in the NBA. Despite an excellent inherent ability, he’s a square peg in a round hole with the Golden State Warriors.
I have no doubt the desire for Kuminga to move on is not only on the mind of the Warriors, it’s on the mind of Kuminga, who yearns for the chance to show off his free form game in a less constricting environment than that of the Steve Kerr Warriors.
Frankly, I think the end result of all this is that Kuminga will be moved after Jan. 15th, the Warriors will receive less than a pound of flesh in return, and Kuminga will not be handed the ball by a new team and told by management, “You’re our guy. Take us to the promised land.”
What Kuminga is right now is a talented wing who can score, can also be wildly inconsistent, and is more a contributing member of the herd but clearly not the bell cow.
What the Warriors are right now is a team led by a guy with a plan and a core of future Hall of Famers whose body parts may not consistently be able to execute it. And about 10 other smart guys — who have working body parts but lesser skills. It makes for great team dinners, but not always the ability to keep up with the new age speed and athleticism of the Thunder, Rockets or T-Wolves.
So, don’t expect a Kuminga trade to yield the second coming of Steph Curry (or even Seth Curry for that matter). This is 100% a situation of addition by subtraction.
Quite frankly, the Warriors right now are top heavy with aging superstars and equally so with a good-not-great supporting cast. So you cut out the cancer — Kuminga — and you toss in a couple of good-not-greats in exchange for someone better than good-not-great, and hope that by allowing for more on the job training, one or two of the good-not-greats become better than that.
Are you taking notes, class?
And, as long as I’m in that hissy-fit frame of mind, let’s talk about Lane Kiffin.
If you’re not clinging desperately to every morsel of the college football coaching merry-go-round, you might not know about Lane Kiffin. And if you do know about him — why?
Kiffin was just named the head football coach at LSU. Until a week ago he was the head football coach at Ole Miss. His team was ranked 7th nationally and given a shot at winning the College Football Playoffs.
So, true to his character, Kiffin announces he’s signing on with LSU, which promptly tells him he can no longer coach Ole Miss in the playoffs. Kiffin replies, Ole who?
I met Lane Kiffin when he was an assistant to Pete Carroll at USC. Talking to him finishes a distant second to talking to a turnip. He is a talented football coach whose sole contribution to society is that he’s a talented football coach.
What he does do better than anyone I know, is interview for a job. I don’t know what he’s got — but I want some.
Kiffin went on to coach the then Oakland Raiders in the NFL never having had any head coaching experience. That lasted 20 games. Or until Al Davis realized he was really the pizza delivery guy.
Then he interviewed at the University of Tennessee. He got that job, too. That lasted one season.
Then Lane interviewed for the USC head coaching job, and of course, he got it. When his team lost to Arizona State 62-41 he was fired at the airport and not even allowed on the team bus back to campus.
Then he interviewed for, and got, the offensive coordinator gig with Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. He then went off to be the head man at Florida Atlantic but only after Saban fired him just before the national championship game because Kiffin spent more time preparing for his Florida Atlantic interview there he did getting Alabama’s offense ready to play for a national title.
This is a guy who really cares. About Lane Kiffin.
Given a choice — I’d hire the turnip.
Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native. Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.