Warriors’ Buddy Hield Drops High Praise For Young “All-World” Talent

Jonathan Kuminga earned significant praise for his performance during the Golden State Warriors‘ 119-109 opening-night victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 23-year-old forward shone in a two-way role for Steve Kerr’s team. He provided stern defense against Luka Doncic, allowing the Warriors to play him straight up, rather than sending help. And, Kuminga was also electric when getting downhill or operating in transition.

When speaking to the media after the game, veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield named Kuminga among the best transition players in the world.

“JK is one of those guys that he’s probably one of the best in the world,” Hield said. “Other than LeBron, Anthony Edwards is one of the best all-world in transition, especially with the ball going downhill. This summer, I think he initiated just making reads, and he had this group that he has with him. And I watch his Instagram all the time, and he’s making reads and translated practice, and he had a great training camp and great preseason. I just want (his work) to keep translating, and he’s been working with Jimmy, and Jimmy’s been helping him.”

Kuminga ended the night with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists on 54.5% shooting from the field, with four of those makes coming from deep.

Jimmy Butler Aims To Help Kuminga Become Great

After the game, Jimmy Butler spoke to the media and expressed his desire to help Kuminga achieve his full potential.

“I just wanna help JK be great,” Butler said. “I mean, he’s got so much raw talent, and he’s so aggressive. He’s athletic, he’s super smart, and I’m trying to teach him a little bit of what I see throughout the game. I’ve been kicking it with him, hanging out, watching film, and just working on our game together after practice and before practice. I know how great he wants to be and how great he can be.”

Kuminga and Butler have performed well when sharing the floor together. If Kuminga can continue knocking down his perimeter shots at a reliable clip, then his partnership with the veteran forward could become a key cog within Golden State’s rotation throughout the upcoming season.

Draymond Green Praises Kuminga’s Defense

During his own postgame news conference, Draymond Green detailed the importance of Kuminga’s defensive production against Doncic. Green explained how the star forward’s high-scoring night isn’t indicative of the good work Kuminga produced.

“He was guarding Luka all night,” Green said. “And you know Luka—well, he finished with 39, 40, something like that. But it was like we didn’t have to commit two guys. You know, so you get 43, which I always tell these guys: you’re not stopping a great scorer. And that’s just not the way this league is set up for you to stop great scorers. But you do make a tough one. And I think all night he lived with the results. And over the course of 48 minutes, you just want to wear him down. You know, I think JK was all over him.”

Kuminga has all the tools to become a high-level two-way forward in the NBA. Kerr and the Warriors coaching staff will undoubtedly be eager to ensure he continues to produce at a high level on that side of the floor, especially when facing elite forwards.

Alabama football’s Ryan Williams explains stuffed dinosaur toy

Before Alabama football games this season, Crimson Tide fans have noticed wide receiver Ryan Williams breaking out a new accessory. As UA players have entered stadiums, Williams has been carrying a stuffed dinosaur.

After going for 165 yards and two touchdowns on five catches Saturday in Alabama’s 38-14 win over Wisconsin, Williams was asked about the plush toy. The sophomore said there was no deeper meaning behind it.

“I got it going into my freshman year,” Williams said. “It’s just something that I had, and the training staff made it look all stylish and stuff with the No. 2 and the spats and all that stuff. So it’s nothing too serious.”

After Alabama lost to Florida State in its first game of the season, some fans used the dinosaur as an avatar for how they felt about the team looking soft. Following the Wisconsin win, that talk had largely disappeared.

Williams had missed Alabama’s second game of the year, a blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe, with a concussion he suffered near the end of the FSU loss. Back in the lineup on Saturday, he made a huge impact.

The Wisconsin win was Williams’s first 100-yard game since last season’s matchup with Georgia.

“He’s just hungry to get back out there and do what he does,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Missed last week, and wanted to be better than what he was in Week 1. So he’s back to work and it was good to see him and Ty (Simpson) connect. Got some easy throws that I think get a guy going, both Ryan and Ty, but then also some of those deep sideline throws, those aren’t the easiest. And so they worked extremely hard on those.”

Alabama moved to 2-1 with the win on Saturday. The Crimson Tide is off this coming week, before beginning SEC play with a trip to Georgia.