The Golden State Warriors season is over, and players and staff are looking back at the bittersweet 2024-25.
Other NBA teams have not experienced the same volatile experiences as the Golden State Warriors in 2024-25.
Initially, the Warriors looked great by winning 13 of their first 15 games. But mid-season, injuries and disappointments piled up. Approaching the All-Star break, they found themselves under the play-in category of Western Conference rankings.
Their struggle urged them to all-in before the trade deadline to acquire Jimmy Butler. Butler influenced the transformation that ultimately led them to the NBA playoffs, following a messy fallout in the Miami Heat.
After knocking off the Houston Rockets at the first round of a tough seven-game Slugfest, the Warriors fell in five games against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West semi-finals, severely missing the presence of Stephen Curry, who suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1.
A player who perfectly reflected the Warriors’ best and low season was Jonathan Kuminga.
Cuminga suffered an ankle injury in late January and struggled to stamp his place in the lineup after Jimmy Butler was on the team.
As one of the team’s veterans, Kevon Rooney expressed sympathy for Kuminga’s biased run with the Warriors this year.
“I think it’s definitely difficult for him,” Rooney said of Cuminga at a season-ending press conference.
“To be a young man on a team with a championship aspirations is always going to be difficult because you can’t just go there and make mistakes.
“You need to play at a higher standard, higher level, but I think it’s getting more painful for him, but I think it’s good for him.
“He learned how to compete and play winning basketball, work, learn to work, learn professional work, I think he is learning how to deal with different situations.
“I think that’s good for his career. There’s a guy like Steve who has a wealth of knowledge, so he can now learn under a lot of _____ from Jimmy Steph and Clay and Draymond. I think that’s in his interest.”
After Butler suffered a pelvic injury in the opening game against the Rockets, Cuminga ultimately scored the nod he had been waiting for from Steve Kerr.
After Curry was sidelined with a hamstring injury against the Timberwolves, Cuminga averaged 23.4 points with 55.4% shooting in the final four games of the series.
There has been a lot of talk about the future of both the Cuminga and the Warriors beyond this season as the younger forward is set to become a restricted free agent. Former NBA star Charles Oakley has pushed Kuminga’s trade up to the Wizard of Washington.
But regardless of what has happened this season, Rooney believes these are just part of Cuminga’s growth process in meeting his star potential.
“As a young player, you want to get a lot of minutes. You want to take over the league with storms and various things like that. But he has been able to learn and deal with adversity at a high level,” Rooney insisted Cuminga.
“It’s proof that he’s good enough to get out of the rotation in the playoffs and thrown out there and play like the Minnesota series, and how much he’s learning, and he’s really watching the film and learning the game.