At seventh overall, Jonathan Kuminga was Golden State’s first lottery pick in the NBA draft. For years, Kuminga has been lauded for his size, speed and otherworldly-potential, but his journey to bring those skills to fruition hasn’t been the easiest.

Kuminga was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and played basketball ever since he could remember. He was born with basketball in his blood, as is his whole family—his parents hooped, his cousin, Emmanuel Mudiay, plays for the Utah Jazz, his other cousin, Omari Gudul, currently plays professionally in Romania, and his older brother played at Texas Tech. Even though he was born to play basketball, hooping competitively in Africa certainly wasn’t as convenient as it is in the states.

“First of all, there is no money. There is no food,” says Kuminga of life back home in the Congo. “When I started playing, we used to walk far away to find [a court]. There aren’t gyms all over like you see here. [Here], you walk down two blocks and you find a gym, a park. You gotta walk like 45 minutes to get to wherever you gotta go to play [back home]. And then after that, you gotta make sure you get back home on time because [there’s] so much stuff out there. You might even find some people that are just going to see you on the road and stab you, try to kill you. It’s kind of dangerous.”

Despite all of this, Kuminga’s fire for the game remained strong. At the age of 13, Kuminga began to realize that his passion for basketball and his physical tools were outgrowing his home, and that he couldn’t stay in the DOC forever if he was going to be serious about fully realizing his potential. So, Kuminga made the hard decision—he decided to leave his family, fly thousands of miles away, and set off to fulfill his dreams as an NBA player in the U.S.

“We used to go around the country, so leaving my parents wasn’t that hard,” said Kuminga. “The last day I heard I was going to come over, I made that decision. I was like, I gotta man up. I gotta grow up. I’m going to see them one day, so I just gotta come over and continue to reach my goal.”

After that, the rest was history. Kuminga arrived in West Virginia and began playing for Huntington Prep as a high school freshman. He quickly became a five-star recruit, drew the eyes of schools all over the nation, and eventually transferred to Our Savior New American in Centerreach, NY when he was a sophomore. He averaged 25, 5 and 5 as a sophomore and was the MaxPreps National Sophomore of the Year in addition to becoming the No. 1 junior in America on ESPN’s rankings. At the end of his high school career, he was a consensus five-star recruit and the best small forward in the 2020 class. He was considered the third-best player in his class by Rivals.com and the fourth-best by 247Sports.com and ESPN after reclassifying when he chose to forego his college career and signed a one-year contract for the NBA G-League Ignite.

At 19 years of age, the athletic, 6'6", 210-pound combo forward averaged 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, getting the job done on both ends of the floor for the Ignite. Many NBA draft analysts had Kuminga ranked as a top-five talent in this year’s draft, which has been lauded as one of the deepest and most talented drafts in recent years.

The Warriors drafted a player with immense, Giannis Antetokounmpo-like potential. Kuminga can impact the game in a number of ways, as evidenced by filling up the stat sheet for his G-League team in 2020-21. However, there are some shooting concerns after he hit just 38.7 percent from the field and 24.6 percent from three-point range when he played for the Ignite.

Even though his efficiency wasn’t great last year, I would expect those numbers to improve quickly, as Kuminga’s shooting mechanics are still good and he can create shots from the post, mid-range and three.

Since KD left, the Warriors have been lacking a dominant, versatile wing (besides Andrew Wiggins) that can create his own shot and also play lockdown defense. It looks like they could have that in Kuminga if he keeps improving. Given Kuminga’s sacrifice and his drive for success, he deserves to be in a basketball culture that nurtures his passion and elite physical abilities.

“Back home they see me all over. It’s a big thing. They’re all happy for me. Everybody is super hyped, posting me all the time. That motivates me, too,” says Kuminga. “When I left home, I told my mom I was going to be number one in everything I do. I worked hard. That’s how I got to this point.”

Look for Kuminga, alongside Moses Moody, to make a noticeable, immediate positive impact off the bench this season. When Kuminga is making big-time plays for the Golden State Warriors, his support system back home will be more hyped than ever before.