Steve Kerr may have engineered one of the greatest dynasties in sports history and carved out a Hall of Fame coaching career, but it doesn’t make him immune to some questionable decisions in the past few years.

Looking at his team from years back and what the Golden State Warriors have right now, the difference is glaring. They still have Steph Curry and Draymond Green, but there’s a limit to what veterans can do, especially as they are aging.

It calls into question how Kerr handled one of the talented youngsters on the roster.

Jonathan Kuminga is a major blemish on Kerr’s player development resume. Warriors fans are watching in horror as Kuminga explodes in his first few games for the Atlanta Hawks, like a caged bird finally set free, while Golden State is stuck with Kristaps Porzingis, a talented but injury-prone big man acquired in exchange for Kuminga.

This is one of the mistakes made by the Warriors’ head coach that has caused the once-dominant franchise to fall into mediocrity in the post-dynasty era.

The 2022 championship hasn’t done enough to compensate for Golden State’s dismal performance over the last few years. In fact, Kuminga’s performance was a key factor in the franchise’s title victory in 2022. He provided raw athleticism off the bench as the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics to claim their fourth championship in eight years. 

Drafted seventh overall in 2021, Kuminga has the legs as a 6-foot-7 forward. He is capable of guarding multiple positions and finishing above the rim. He even set a franchise record with 138 dunks in his third season. For a moment he looked like the heir apparent to the aging core and even someone who could bridge the gap from the Curry era to whatever came next.

He was still raw and needed consistent minutes to iron out his inconsistencies, but Kerr never trusted him enough to hand him a starting role. 

Kerr Flagrantly Whiffed on Kuminga

Kuminga broke out for the Warriors in his second year when star swingman Andrew Wiggins left the team for personal reasons. The next year, Green’s suspensions opened another door, and he started 47 games that season, scoring an average of 16.1 points per game. There was a clear pattern here that showed he did well when he was in the spotlight, but Kerr never gave it to him willingly. He played in only 10 games in 2024-25 and 13 this season before being traded to Atlanta.

Before that, there was a lot of tension between Kuminga and the organisation that got out of hand. Contract talks went on all summer without any progress, and they ended with a two-year, $48.5 million deal that gave the team the option to keep the player. The 23-year-old wanted a max extension, but he didn’t get it. However, it was something, and it showed that they might have plans for him in the future. Kerr thought differently, and Kuminga wanted a trade. This meant that the Warriors had to settle for Porzingis and send Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Hawks.

Kerr called it a “tough” one because, according to him, Kuminga’s development clashed with the team’s win-now period. But it was clearly a cop-out as he set the rotations and chose loyalty to vets over investing in the future. Kuminga will benefit from playing a younger Hawks team who also traded Trae Young. 

He made his debut on Feb. 24 against the Washington Wizards and scored 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in just 24 minutes off the bench. He followed that up with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists in his first start against the same Wizards, then 20 points and seven rebounds against the Portland Trail Blazers.

It’s still early days, but he is averaging a career-high 21.3 points on 67.7% shooting from the field.

Case in point: coaches have always stuck with and trusted young players with a high ceiling, and it often turns out well.

Gregg Popovich did it with Kawhi Leonard, turning a raw defender into a Finals MVP by giving him reps. Eric Spoelstra molded Bam Adebayo from a bench big into Miami’s cornerstone. Of course, not every young player ever has broke out, but it felt as though Kuminga had earned something. Instead, Kerr hoarded trust for his vets, even as the Warriors missed the playoffs in 2023 and 2024. 

In Atlanta, however, coach Quin Snyder immediately slotted Kuminga into a meaningful role and he is now playing close to 30 minutes a night. In three games, he is looking like the All-Star the Warriors drafted him to be.

Kerr’s rigid system stifled Kuminga. Even if he never openly admitted it, there was no real belief. A similar thing happened with James Wiseman, who was another Warriors lottery pick that Kerr couldn’t develop before being traded away young.