Why Warriors Made Justifiable Decision Benching Kuminga in 4th Quarter vs. Thunder

Jonathan Kuminga did not play in the fourth quarter of the Golden State's Warriors' 124-112 loss to the Thunder on Tuesday.

Aaron Turner, Kuminga's agent, expressed his frustration on X with that decision. First, he retweeted this:

JK was a huge part of that comeback. Kerr rewards him with a 4Q benching. Warriors trail by 4 with 3:56 to play. 🤦🏻
— Cyrus Saatsaz (@SurfJournalist) December 3, 2025

Before making his own post:

What are we doing out here 🤦🏻.
— Aaron Turner (@arockturner20) December 3, 2025

Did Steve Kerr make a justifable decision? To fairly judge it, we need to first go over his entire 16-minute performance.

1st Quarter (6:51 to 0:49)

On his second defensive possession, Kuminga jogged back, putting Draymond Green in a position where he was briefly guarding two players. That allowed Ajay Mitchell a wide-open layup, but he missed it.

After four possessions without getting the ball much, Kuminga used a GPII ball screen to drive before taking a step-back mid-range jumper that he missed. It was open, but it's not a high-percentage shot. Right after the miss, play-by-play announcer Bob Fitzgerald said, "The Warriors want him to go all the way to the rim, shoot a three or attack on the glass."

A few possessions later, the Warriors had nothing going before Buddy Hield attempted a pass to Kuminga, who was by the center-court logo. Kuminga did well to come back to the ball to avoid a turnover, and he briefly had a lane after Jalen Williams got out of position trying to steal the pass. But it's not easy starting your drive 35 feet from the basket, and the Thunder converged on him before Kuminga got caught in the air and threw a bad pass. This should've been a layup the other way, but OKC turned it over throwing it ahead.

Soon after, Kuminga had an open look at a corner three, which he almost airballed.

In six first-quarter minutes, Kuminga had two uncontested defensive rebounds, zero points (0-of-2 shooting) and one turnover.

2nd Quarter (6:36 to 1:57)

The Warriors dedicated a possession to getting Kuminga a post-up against Mitchell. With the shot clock running down, Kuminga did the smart thing: face up, use the jab step to get some space and fire. He made the deep two.

On defense, Kuminga gave up an offensive rebound to Jaylin Williams, but after another miss on the same possession, he batted the ball off the glass to himself for a contested defensive rebound. He then dribbled all the way into the paint and threw up a wild shot that barely ticked iron. He wanted a blocking foul on Isaiah Joe, but it was a good no-call.

Kuminga kept his focus on the next possession, staying with Cason Wallace's drive before blocking his shot. Wallace got the rebound as he was out of bounds for a turnover.

On the next possession, Joe got switched onto Kuminga, and it was obvious Kuminga was looking to drive the mismatch. But Joe played him well, forcing Kuminga into a tough pass that Jaylin Williams deflected for a turnover.

On his last defensive possession before being subbed out, Kuminga was guarding Aaron Wiggins on the weak-side block. The Thunder ran a textbook pick-and-roll, getting Jaylin Williams the ball as he rolled down the middle of the lane. Kuminga is supposed to go off his man and defend the roller, but he missed the rotation. Spencer helped off that strong side to foul Williams so he didn't get a layup.

In about five second-quarter minutes, Kuminga had two points (1-of-2 shooting), two rebounds (one contested) and a block.

3rd Quarter (5:08 to end of quarter)

Kuminga caught the ball and noticed Jaylin Williams was giving him space to shoot a three. He took one dribble to get a screen from Spencer, which gave him even more air space as Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander debated whether to close out on him. Kuminga nailed the three.

Three possessions later, Kuminga took a step-back three on Jaylin Williams early in the shot clock. This was not a good shot, as Kuminga should be able to drive Williams. He missed it.

After a Seth Curry miss from three, Kuminga made a very athletic play by tipping the ball to himself so Jaylin Williams couldn't get it. That gave him a wide-open lane for a dunk.

Next, Kuminga caught the ball at the top of the key with Jaylin Williams guarding him. Spencer set a screen that didn't do anything, as Williams simply went under the screen while waiting for Kuminga's drive. That put Kuminga in a tough spot, so he tried a turnaround push shot that missed.

Kuminga then drove in semi-transition and deep into the lane. He jumped into Jaylin Williams and lost the ball. The refs deemed Williams went straight up, so no foul was called.

Kuminga had the ball at the wing with Jaylin Williams on him, but this time he called for Seth Curry to accept a dribble handoff coming toward the baseline. In fear of Kuminga's threat as roller, Williams let Curry go into the paint, and he finished with a driving floater.

Kuminga drove SGA into the paint and took a push shot that he missed. He grabbed his own rebound and went up strong, getting fouled. He made one of two free throws.

On his last defensive possession, Kuminga was hand-checking SGA at the beginning of his drive. SGA ripped through for an easy call. He made both free throws.

Kuminga's third-quarter stat line included six points (2-of-6 shooting), three rebounds (one contested) and one assist. He was a plus-eight, but note that every Warrior who played in the third quarter was at least a plus-six.

Why Kerr's Decision Was Reasonable

In the third quarter, a number of Warriors got going. Draymond Green (7 points, 3-of-3 shooting) was excellent. Brandin Podziemski (8 points, 2-of-2 shooting, 3 assists) was as well. Pat Spencer (9 points, 4-of-5 shooting, 2 assists) felt like the key to the rally. Seth Curry (4 points, 2-of-3 shooting) had another efficient quarter. Gary Payton II (6 points, 2-of-2 shooting) and Buddy Hield (4 points, 2-of-3 shooting) had an impact too.

Kuminga's third quarter was much more up and down than all of these players. So it is reasonable that Kerr went with all of them over Kuminga in the fourth quarter.

With that said, the Warriors were very small down the stretch. The Thunder picked on Hield, who was guarding either Jalen Williams or SGA on every possession, and Kuminga would've had a better chance against the Thunder's two star guards.

Of course, on the other end Hield is more of a threat from the perimeter, so again, you can understand Kerr going with him.

It did not pay off, as the Thunder won the fourth quarter 33-24.

Overall, Kuminga's performance was not impressive. He had eight points on 3-of-10 shooting, seven mostly uncontested rebounds, one assist, one block and two turnovers. His first-quarter stint was bad, and even in the third, his best quarter, he wasn't particularly impactful on either end.

Kuminga would likely play better if his minutes were guaranteed, so you can certainly blame Kerr for that. But Kuminga can force Kerr's hand by playing well despite the minutes inconsistencies, and he's simply not doing that.