The relationship between Steve Kerr and Jonathan Kuminga has been a regular talking point over recent years, and continues to be so as the young Golden State Warriors forward prepares to hit restricted free agency.
The ups-and-downs of Kuminga's playoff campaign typified his entire career, having received a number of DNPs before exploding in Stephen Curry's absence to be the Warriors' leading scorer over the final four games of the second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But the handling of Kuminga over his first four years highlights a bigger issue at play, with Golden State's overall development under Kerr having been a bone of contention for fans over a long period of time.
DeMarcus Cousins tees off on Steve Kerr's management of young players
DeMarcus Cousins played a year for Kerr and the Warriors in 2018-19 when they were an incredibly veteran team, with the former big man now criticizing his ex-coach for the inability to develop young talent in recent years.
Speaking on FanDuel's Run It Back, Cousins went as far as to suggest the playoff DNPs may have ruined the relationship between Kerr and Kuminga, while also pointing to the overall developmental issues.
"He just doesn't handle young talent well. He doesn't develop young talent," Cousins said. "We've seen one guy develop under Steve Kerr. The Warriors ran him off, that was Jordan Poole."
Cousins certainly has a point, with the treatment and development of Golden State's young players proving problematic since they had a trio of lottery picks across the 2020 and 2021 drafts. The Warriors got nothing from a second overall pick in James Wiseman, while Kuminga and Moses Moody have yet to find consistency in a way they would have hoped.
Yet to say Kerr "doesn't develop young talent" may be a stretch. Poole went from the 28th overall pick to a key contributor on a championship team by his third season, while Brandin Podziemski immediately came in as a 19th overall pick and averaged over 32 minutes in his first playoff run.
So in other words, Kerr can develop young talent but only when they conform to the Warrior style which has been built around Stephen Curry for the last dozen years. Then it becomes a question of whether that's a Kerr issue, or whether the front office made a mistake in taking the raw athleticism and upside of Wiseman and Kuminga in back-to-back years.
Regardless, the inconsistent playing time and opportunity ultimately comes down to Kerr, and has undoubtedly been a source of immense frustration for fans who are left to bemoan what could have been with Kuminga and others.