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Jonathan Kuminga #0 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts with Dyson Daniels #5 during the third quarter against the Washington Wizards at State Farm Arena on February 24, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga played like a man possessed in his Atlanta Hawks debut on Tuesday, finishing with a season-high 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals off the bench. After the game, Kuminga was asked whether he was trying to send a message to the Golden State Warriors, the team that drafted him No. 7 overall in 2021 but never really believed in his talents.
“Everybody has an opinion,” Kuminga said on whether he was trying to remind the Warriors of what they gave up, via The Associated Press.
“I really don’t pay attention to what anyone else is saying. We’re trying to win as many games as we can here. That’s my main focus.”
Kuminga Shines in Hawks Debut
Kuminga was all smiles after his strong debut, which helped the Hawks (29-31) notch their second consecutive win and move closer to the Miami Heat for the eighth seed.
“I don’t know what to tell you, I’m just excited to get out there and get this dub,” Kuminga said during his walk back to the tunnel after his team’s 119-98 victory.
The game marked Kuminga’s first taste of NBA action since the Jan. 23 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, when he was part of the Warriors. Incidentally, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had recalled him to the rotation after DNP’ing the Congolese forward for more than a month. However, Kuminga played just two games before sustaining a bone bruise in his knee, leading to his move to the Hawks before the NBA trade deadline.
Will Warriors Regret Kuminga Trade?
Kuminga has seemingly adjusted quickly to life in Atlanta.
“It’s basketball at the end of the day. Trying to be a student of the game as a much as I can,” Kuminga said of adjustment to Atlanta, via the San Francisco Chronicle.
“Learning from other players here. … Just asking them questions because they’ve been playing here for a minute, so they know pretty much everything.”
Kuminga revealed that he had closely followed the Hawks long before the trade and was aware of Quin Snyder’s plays and his focus on pushing the pace in transition.
“I watch a lot of games and I think that’s pretty much one of the things they’ve been preaching about in practice — playing transition, turning people over, playing as a hard as you can,” Kuminga said. “I feel like just watching them every day, I think it’s a culture the way the play here. I think I’ve just been watching them for a minute now.”
Kuminga’s Hawks debut coincided with the Warriors (30-28) suffering a 113-109 loss to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans (17-42) on Tuesday. If Kuminga turns into a star in Atlanta, the Warriors may have some regrets about how they treated the 23-year-old.
His ex-Warriors teammates, though, are rooting for him to succeed.
“Go be great,” Curry told Kuminga through IG after the trade.
Draymond Green felt that the two-man combo of Jalen Johnson and Kuminga could prove to be handful in Snyder’s system.
“He can go become a cornerstone of that franchise with Jalen Johnson, those 2 guys running downhill at you in transition, good luck,” Green said on his podcast.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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