Warriors: Jonathan Kuminga’s Rising Stars snub is a shame

The NBA Rising Stars game is notorious for snubbing some deserving talent. This year the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga should be heavily motivated to prove they were wronged.

Jonathan Kuminga was snubbed from the Rising Stars game despite being flashing incredible talent with the Golden State Warriors.

NBA assistant coaches joined together to vote on who will make it to the game. The format has been altered this year, with 12 rookies, 12 sophomores and four G-League Ignite players making up four teams which will later be drafted by NBA legends such as Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Ricky Barry and Gary Payton.

Unfortunately, the former Warriors’ champion, Rick Barry, will not be able to select anyone from the Bay area. Because, in spite of putting together more than enough highlights to prove he is a rising star, Kuminga was omitted from the event.

The Rising Stars game is far from being the determining factor in who becomes a star or not. There have been some notable snubs, some as recent as Darius Garland

A high-flying dunker who has been delivering a beating on the rim each night is exactly the type of player you’d want to see in an All-Star weekend outing. But, Kuminga is more than just a dunker, he’s played eye-popping defense at times and is an efficient scorer.

Per 36 minutes, Kuminga is averaging 19.6 points and 7.2 rebounds on close to 50 percent shooting from the floor in addition to being a quality defender. His career-high of 26 points is more than Jalen Suggs’, who is deemed a volume scorer despite shooting below 30 percent from the 3-point line and just 36 percent from the floor overall.

Kuminga has been more consistent than names like Suggs and Jalen Green yet he seemingly received no credit for his strong rookie season so far. More importantly, he’s been more conducive to winning.

It’s a shame, but given the fact that Kuminga has played just the 26th most minutes of his class, it can be understood why he was left off the roster.