He is not expected to finish high school until next year, but Congolese teen Jonathan Kuminga is considered by some to be the young player who most interests the NBA.
Kuminga is enrolled at the Patrick School in Hillside, New Jersey, 32km southwest of New York.
He might be a couple years away from becoming a millionaire, but for now, the 203cm multiple threat spends most of his time in a modest red brick building, home of the Patrick’s gym and classrooms.
Photo: AFP
On Christmas Eve, coach Chris Chavannes hosted a three-hour practice, with the highly touted prospect sometimes struggling to keep up.
“I think where he came from they didn’t have as much talent as we have here and it wasn’t as intense,” Chavannes said. “So now you have to learn that grind, the physicality, the demands that we put on them, mentally and physically. But he’s different because he loves basketball. He’s a junkie. So the transition for him is not that hard.”
That might be one of the few weak spots in Kuminga’s profile as a player.
At only 17, he weighs more than 90kg and carries a highly muscular frame.
“Physically, he has a body that’s college, NBA-ready,” said former NBA player Al Harrington, who is one of the few high-schoolers to have successfully jumped straight to the pros, back in 1998.
The former Saint Patrick player was 100kg (and 203cm tall) when he joined the NBA, but thinks that Kuminga is “built better than I was. I think he’s more physically gifted than I was at that age.”
Born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), Kuminga also has the skills to match his “Adonis” frame, as Chavannes says.
“Usually you don’t see a guy that size being able to handle the ball and post you, the speed and the athleticism, very rarely can you find a full combination — and he has it,” Chavannes said.
Able to play at least four positions, Kuminga can push the ball up the court, drive or wait for the right play within a half-court offense, with a reliable outside shot at the ready.
Since arriving in the US from the DR Congo at age 13, Kuminga has had a chaotic journey, attending four high schools in as many years.
Several members of his family live nearby, but Kuminga has not been reunited with his parents since departing his homeland.
“I am still a kid, so I miss them,” said Kuminga, whose older brother, Joel Ntambwe, played US college basketball at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
The cost of a trip from Africa and visa issues prevent a reunion with his parents or any possibility of joining his homeland’s national team in the near future, whose jersey he has never worn, even in youth squads.
Since last year, “Jon” has been considered a possible top pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, becoming eligible for the selection process one year after his high-school class graduates.
“With his talent he could probably be the No. 1 pick in the NBA,” if he could enter straight out of high school, said his cousin, Utah Jazz star Emmanuel Mudiay, who is also from the DR Congo.
While the NBA has discussed changing the rules to allow direct moves from the high-school ranks to the NBA — something unseen in 15 years — any change is unlikely to come in time to prevent Kuminga from having to spend a year in college basketball.
“Because he’s so rooted and so grounded, that makes it very, very easy” for him to stay focused on the ultimate goal, making it to the NBA, Mudiay said.
Helping him stay on track, Patrick alumni such as Harrington and Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving sometimes drop by workouts and pass along advice.
“For foreigners like us coming from overseas, we have a mentality of our goal is set,” Mudiay said. “His goal is to get to the NBA.”
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
RSS