SAN FRANCISCO — James Wiseman said he’ll “most likely play” in Summer League next month. If that’s the case, he might not be the only reigning NBA champion worth watching in Las Vegas.
Jonathan Kuminga said Saturday afternoon that he would “love to” play in the annual offseason competition.
“I would want to do it especially if I’m trying to grow and learn and get better every day, I got to play more,” he said. “I feel like the Summer League would be good.”
Some players go through their entire careers without winning an NBA championship. But at 19, Kuminga is the second youngest player to earn a championship ring.
Kuminga acknowledged how special it was for him to win at the highest level at such a young age. He enjoyed his cousin sending a video of his family doing the Griddy dance after the Warriors knocked off the Celtics in six games. His brother, who is back in Africa, also told him that “everybody is happy that you’re a champion.”
But reaching the mountaintop of the NBA only made Kuminga more motivated to get back to work in hopes to return to this spot at the end of next season.
“I learned how to be a winner… and now I know what it takes to actually get to the Finals and get the job done,” Kuminga said. “By being out there watching what was going on, listening to coaches, listening to vets, that really helped me and I feel like if we just keep up with the good work hopefully next year we’ll get there and I’m going to be one of the guys helping the team to get there.”
Kuminga said he’s focusing a lot of his offseason work on improving his shooting. He averaged 9.3 points while shooting 51.3% on 6.6 field goal attempts per game in 70 regular-season contests this season. He also shot 33.6% from 3-point range, taking about 2.1 shots from deep each game.
“If I get my shooting to where I want it to get [it], it’s really going to open up a lot of stuff,” he said.
Kuminga could benefit from getting some game reps in during Summer League. He’s also considering the chance of playing for the Democratic Republic of Congo national men’s basketball team this offseason.
“I’m still working on that one, I’m still thinking” about playing for his national team, he said. “I’m not going to take a break for too long. I’m just gonna be back at it again.”
