Jonathan Kuminga’s long-hyped breakout storyline isn’t happening this season. Instead, his up-and-down year—really, the last two—came to a brutal stop. The Atlanta Hawks were knocked out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion, blown out 140–89 by the New York Knicks. For Kuminga, it’s even worse: the loss comes with a record you don’t want your name on. What was supposed to be a redemption story ends as a reality check, and, maybe, validation for Steve Kerr.
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The forward found himself at the center of an unprecedented statistical meltdown in the must-win Game 6. Kuminga became the first player in the play-by-play era that began in 1997 to record a +/- of -40 in the first half of a playoff game. He finished with 11 points, two rebounds and three assists, shooting 3-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.
This staggering figure eclipsed the previous record of -39, set by Pacers player, Austin Croshere, in a 2000 matchup between the Pacers and the Bucks.
For a player who arrived in Atlanta seeking to prove he was a franchise cornerstone, the performance served as a brutal reality check, especially given Jonathan Kuminga’s tumultuous history with the Golden State Warriors and their head coach, Steve Kerr. Throughout his tenure in the Bay Area, JK’s relationship with Kerr was defined by a public tug-of-war over playing time and trust.
Steve Kerr somewhere having a small laugh to himself I guarantee 😂
While Kuminga’s camp often expressed frustration over a lack of consistent opportunities, Kerr maintained that the young forward had yet to master the winning habits required by the Warriors’ system. The Hawks learnt about the 23-year-old’s exact flaw that the Warriors knew about in this series.
Despite the strong 19 and 21-point outings in the first two games, JK’s efficiency from the three-point line is disproportionate to his enthusiasm to shoot from there. His three-point stat in these series (0-of-2 in Game 1, 1-of-4 in Game 2, 2-of-4 in Game 3, 0-of-6 in Game 4 and 1-of-5 in Game 5) is a staggering reflection of undeveloped skills. His career 33.2% shooting from the arc is why he didn’t fit in Kerr’s Stephen Curry-centric system.
The friction culminated in a mid-season trade to Atlanta, which was widely framed as JK’s escape from Kerr’s restrictive system. NBA analysts and fellow players initially championed this move, suggesting that Kuminga’s ceiling was being artificially capped by Kerr’s veteran-heavy rotations. But the Hawks’ elimination has flipped the script on Kuminga.
At just 23 years old, Kuminga remains an explosive athlete with rare physical tools, elite transition speed, and the kind of vertical pop that continues to project him as a high-upside wing in this league.
While this playoff performance represents a significant setback, rough postseason exits have preceded breakout careers for many young stars before him.
What will ultimately define his trajectory is how he responds to this adversity, refines his decision-making, and improves his consistency from beyond the arc. His potential as a two-way force remains intact if he commits to addressing the growth areas that have held him back.
Warriors fans taunt Jonathan Kuminga
Everyone who spent months debating the Kerr-Kuminga fallout reacted with a mixture of shock and irony as the stats flashed across screens. Many fans immediately pointed back to the Warriors’ sideline, with one observer noting, “Now Kerr can sign his extension. He got the last laugh.”
Well, Kerr is not the only one who has to decide his future with the Warriors. JK’s $24.3 million contract talks are due this offseason, too. And he has a team option coming up. This elimination may not necessarily weigh into that. Unless the Hawks decide the problem Kerr couldn’t fix is too much of a gamble.
The idea that Kerr’s hesitance to fully trust Kuminga with key rotation minutes may have been more accurate than the forward’s fans realized. While some got sarcastic about the historic blowout and the individual stat, joking, “Bro left the warriors and made history. You gotta respect it,” some grappled with sheer mathematical impossibility. “I’m a firm believer that single game +/- is pretty meaningless … But -40 in 12 minutes is insane.”
The only relief for Kuminga is that the majority don’t blame him for the Game 6 loss, and most don’t think the individual +/- weighs in on the final box score as much as for oddmakers. Yet, even those attempting to defend the forward had to concede, “He is definitely not the reason they lost but how is this possible LOL.”
Kuminga’s elite production early in the series almost felt like an illusion to someone who had a humbling observation, “Bro thought he was Julius Erving for the first two games of this series came back to earth real quick.”
The suddenness of the collapse was particularly jarring given Kuminga’s strong start to the postseason, leading some to mock the early hype by asking, “Wait, wut? I thought the Hawks won this series in 3, and Kuminga was the MVP of the series. What’d I miss?”
Among the many ecstatic Steve Kerr memes mocking Kuminga online, there were also those that laughed at the “fresh start” narrative. Critics who felt the coach had been unfairly blamed sarcastically chimed in, “He just needed a fresh start & new environment, it was Steve Kerr’s fault, guys.”
Other Hawks players were not spared from the fallout either. CJ McCollum, who was terrorizing New York earlier in the series, had previously praised trades that brought him and Kuminga to Atlanta, stating, “He has championship DNA coming from the Warriors; he understands how to play the game the right way. He was in a not-so-great situation, and now he’s found a happy home.”
This endorsement aged poorly in the eyes of many, leading to a blunt reaction from the gallery: “CJ should’ve kept his mouth shut, n—- always talking after 1 good game.”
For Kuminga, the “happy home” in Atlanta now faces a long summer of questions. The Hawks will likely deliberate whether his historic first-half exit was a fluke or a confirmation of his former coach’s long-standing concerns.
