The Warriors believe themselves to be title contenders.
They’ll point to their stars — Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green. They’ll point to how great they were on defense once that trio was put together last year. They’ll point to their overall depth, which is as good as it’s been in nearly a decade. They’ll point to their prodigious experience that no team in the NBA can come close to matching.
And now they’ll point to how they played in their 2025-26 season debut against the Lakers.
That, folks, is a good basketball team. A team that, if luck goes their way, demands to be reckoned with come the spring.
And if Jonathan Kuminga plays like he did in Game 1 in the games to come between now and the NBA’s trade deadline on Feb. 5, well, he’ll still be in blue and gold for that spring swing.
Lost amid the nonsense and ridiculousness that was Kuminga’s contract negotiations this summer was the possibility that a player who just turned 23 years old might actually figure out what it takes to really play — and get paid — in the NBA; the chance that Kuminga might finally “get it.”
That possibility looks like it’s coming into focus. A strong preseason hinted at it, and Game 1 amplified it.
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Kuminga had 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and a steal in the Warriors’ 119-109 season-opening win. He had only two turnovers and played a lot of one-on-one defense against Luka Dončić, turning in a solid defensive shift and picking up only two fouls.
Kuminga has said that he spent his offseason trying to be the Warriors’ “X-Factor” this season — the kind of tertiary player whose winning plays take good teams and make them great. Warriors coach Steve Kerr has told nearly everyone in the league that he wants Kuminga to replicate Shawn Marion’s game
One game does not a season make, but Kuminga was certainly the X-Factor on Tuesday. He looked an awful lot like the Matrix.
It’s enough to make you wonder if you’re in an alternate reality.
Because with Kuminga embracing his role, the Warriors, in turn, looked not just like a good team in a loaded Western Conference, but a squad keen to maintain that 27-8 pace with Butler, Curry, and Green playing. (Do that this season, and the Dubs are good for more than 60 wins.)
“He was incredible tonight and I want to make sure he knows it,” Green said. “We all can ask for opportunities, but you ask for opportunity, you must deliver. He’s been very vocal… he delivered.”
Indeed, and you’d be hard-pressed to say that Kuminga’s strong night wasn’t some hot-shooting fluke where he caught fire from deep or racked up some cheap points at the expense of the offense.
No, this was a complete, all-around player flexing his muscles and imposing his will.
He played 33 minutes on Tuesday because he positively affected winning when he was on the court.
And no play better epitomized this possibly new, perhaps even humbled Kuminga than his offensive rebound with one minute to play in the game.
In a 114-107 game, Butler missed an above-the-break 3-pointer. The Lakers thought they were going to get the ball, push it in down the court for an easy layup — Luka had already leaked out and was unguarded — and make it a ballgame again.
And for that split second the ball hung in the air after the back-of-the-rim miss, the Lakers were justified in that thought. After all, they had a 7-footer in DeAndre Ayton and a power forward, Rui Hachimura, in position to pick up the rebound.
But then, out of nowhere, came Kuminga. Breaking in from the right-wing corner, Kuminga flashed into the lane and rose an estimated 15 feet into the air (you can’t disprove it) to snatch the rebound.
Three passes later, Curry ended the game with a 35-foot 3-pointer.
Game over.
“That rebound was what everyone in the world has been waiting to see,” Green said. “Those are game-winning plays.”
It’s the kind of play that Kuminga always could make, but he rarely did make.
And perhaps Tuesday was just a one-off, but that’s not what the Dubs are expecting.
No, they see a new, improved Kuminga and they’re big fans.
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“He’s really, really matured, you know, he’s had a great camp. We’ve had some really good conversations, I think he has a better understanding of what we need,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the win. “We saw in the first half, he took a couple of tough mid-range fadeaways that we don’t want. He immediately held up his hand. He realized, you know, that was not the shot.”
“I think he just has a better sense of what’s needed, now, compared to past years.
“You gotta remember he just turned 23, you know. [He] came to us, basically, as like a freshman in college… For him, it hasn’t been easy to find minutes on our team and I’m really proud of them for staying with it and really maturing and it’s a great start for him and for us.”
This was the Kuminga that even his biggest detractors had to acknowledge existed somewhere.
This is the guy who spent the offseason getting a brutal, clear-eyed reality check. While his agent was selling his potential, the rest of the NBA — even the most enamored — put Kuminga in his place. The Warriors refused to give in to his contract demands. The Kings and Suns might have given him the money, but they weren’t going to give up what the Warriors needed (which was a fair ask) in a sign-and-trade.
The message couldn’t have been clearer: We think you can be great, but you’re not there yet.
Meanwhile, role players all over the league — guys who don’t have the athleticism or perceived upside of Kuminga — were being paid big money with long terms.
Their teams thought they couldn’t live without them.
The Warriors signed Kuminga to a contract that told him the exact opposite. That deal is begging to be traded.
It was time to put up or shut up for the forward.
And Kuminga made a new statement on Tuesday: Challenge accepted.