Warriors’ Kuminga dreams of helping not just Congo but all of Africa originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – When Jonathan Kuminga discusses his homeland, he does so in a steady voice that affirms conviction, even as his eyes convey the misery they’ve seen. Count him among those with a deep desire to bring peace and stability to region long foreign to the concept.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is caught in the grip of 30 years of unabated instability. It is a region at war within and beyond, with various groups of varying degrees of militancy largely responsible for a death toll that by some reports exceeds six million.
Kuminga ponders the state of the DRC and concludes that “it doesn’t sit right in my heart.”
Yet this is environment where Kuminga, in Year 3 of a four-year rookie NBA contract worth $24.9 million, was born and raised. Where he spent the first 13 years of his life in a family that found villages stable enough to learn of life beyond the borders and, as he grew taller, fall in love with basketball.
And, moreover, where he could dream of pursuing ways to utilize his celebrity and wealthy should he become an NBA star.
“That’s always the goal,” Kuminga says as a guest on the latest “Dubs Talk,” which debuted Thursday. “I never think of being here. I just work and let things happen. Me just being here, and it’s so much more that comes with it.
“Since I was a kid, since I got to America, I always thought about just making it to a point where I could be able to go back and help. Not just to the Congo, because everybody wants to help where they came from. But I look at the point where I want to build so much where I could be able to help a lot of people in Africa, different countries, different cities.”
Keep in mind that Kuminga turned 21 last October. But the combo forward’s skills have been developing at an accelerated rate this season, enough for Warriors coach Steve Kerr to put him in the starting lineup at midseason. He has All-Star potential.
Kuminga’s love of basketball led him as a child to tie on a pair of decrepit shoes and head to courts surfaced with dirt. If he couldn’t play, he’d seek cash from his parents to a pay for 30 minutes of Wi-Fi time at an Internet Café. He’d put on headphones and stare into the screen at highlights, mostly of Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.
A kid, dreaming of the game. And what he could do if he was good enough to get to America and maybe reach the…