Just a kid from Congo with a New York dream.
Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga will make his return to the city when the Knicks host the Warriors at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
The 6-foot-7 Congolese pro spent some of his youth attending high school at Our Savior New American in Centereach on Long Island before transferring to The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J.
It was Kuminga’s last stop on his youth basketball journey, which included a stint at Huntington Prep in West Virginia, before he would forgo college basketball — including offers from Duke, Kentucky, Auburn, Florida State, Baylor, Memphis, Michigan and Texas Tech — before joining the NBA G-League Ignite in 2020.
“Coming straight from Congo to a different country, I didn’t know 20 people at the time,” the 21-year-old Kuminga told The Post while at his first National Basketball Players Association clinic in Manhattan on Wednesday. “Trying to figure it out at the very young age, not knowing so many people. … It was tough. I mean, there is always ups and downs in life … but just moving from city to another city, it was a challenge.”
New York left a special imprint on the third-year forward on his way to NBA stardom.
“In New York, just a kid from Congo, looking at the big picture, we don’t speak about different cities that exist, but we speak about New York most of the time. It’s a very beautiful city. … It’s something that I always dreamed of, to just come to New York and it was great playing here [in high school and AAU],” he said. “That’s one thing — I always wanted to come to New York and just be a part of everything.
“[Coming back to New York], I have so many people, family [and] fans that I know that seen me growing up in their eyes and now playing — it’s a dream come true when I come back to New York and play in the Garden. And of course, this year I’m getting to play even more, compared to the past two years and I’m just very excited. I can’t wait.”
Kuminga is especially enamored by the fashion in New York, as he is the designer and curator of his own namesake brand (Kuminga), influenced by the rich culture of Congolese “Sapology” fashion, which features colorful materials and unique fabrics.
coming over to the United States. NBPA
The No. 7 overall pick by the Warriors in the 2021 NBA Draft, Kuminga worked his way into the starting lineup with future Hall of Famers Steph Curry and Draymond Green — who said his 12-game suspension for hitting Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic in the face on Dec. 12 “helped” the Warriors, because “JK’s taken off.”
Nevertheless, the road to the rotation wasn’t paved perfectly for Kuminga, who was benched for the entire fourth quarter of a loss to the Nuggets on Jan. 4.
A pivotal conversation with Warriors coach Steve Kerr set the tone for Kuminga’s production after the fact — and he’s been an aggressive force on both ends of the floor since.
“It wasn’t an easy transition just going through everything that really happened,” Kuminga said of his chat with Kerr, which cleared up any miscommunications the two had and helped him to become more focused on his game. … For me to be in this situation, obviously it was just things that had to be spoken about and I don’t regret anything that happened because that kind of helped me to be where I am today. I feel like I deserve it. It’s just a matter of how to maintain the same pace and keep getting better and keep going.”
Kuminga’s development over the past few months isn’t something to be swept under the rug.
He’s become more aggressive in the paint, a stronger passer and the Warriors have trusted him with ball-handling.
He is averaging 15.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season.
Kuminga is humble at heart, and believes “growth” has no end — a word he frequents after conversations with Curry about the importance of it.
“You just go out there and just keep putting your foot on the gas every day,” Kuminga said. “So obviously, just me being in that situation is just so crazy, and something I never really thought about. But obviously I’m more excited to just have that in my journey and where it’s going to lead us.
“There are always times when you don’t know what you need to do and all that comes with experience of people around you that are helping you and guiding you to do the right things. Obviously having him [Kerr] has helped me. I feel like me, right now, I’m the best version of myself.”
Green also has been a constant in Kuminga’s growth, and made the third-year forward feel welcomed upon arrival.
“It’s just the things that people don’t see you,” Kuminga said. “They only see you when you start playing well. Me and Draymond, we have this connection where he always talked to me even the first time I got there. He’s one of the first guys that was excited for me to get drafted out there.
“He’s been pushing me and motivating me and just helping me throughout my journey to get better every other day. So obviously now things come to light and people start seeing it, but it’s just something that Draymond is always pushing me every other day. He could see what I could become and he had that vision. So every other day we just worked together and he just helped me throughout my journey.”
Fans can bid live during Thursday’s Knicks-Warriors game for Kuminga’s game-worn jersey through the Daps app, created by Jake Klores, which connects fans to players through access to authentic collectibles and personalized experiences.
The winner of the auction will receive Daps’ digital certificate of authenticity, featuring a video message of Kuminga with the jersey.
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will support Everytown’s anti-gun violence cause, which Kuminga has been passionate about since high school.