Jonathan Kuminga - Rising Stars' Snub

The Rising Stars Challenge, to my understanding, is an even bigger joke than the All-Star Game itself.  And it ain't like anybody is expecting dudes to go out there and kill themselves in the name of winning an exhibition.  But it's like players tend to take the game so lackadaisically that after a few minutes, by the second half, it becomes unwatchable.

So that then begs the question of why Jonathan Kuminga got snubbed.  This year there's four Rising Stars' teams, 28 players in all.  A handful of them I never even heard of.  Some others, even though I may have coming across their names before, like I never really heard of them representing on the court.  And to some extent, that includes Cade Cunningham.

Meanwhile Jonathan Kuminga was a lottery pick who came into the NBA with additional fanfare since he lucked out being drafted by the Warriors.  Then after that, he actually represented in Summer League.

Earlier in the season, he wasn't getting a lot of run.  But as of late, with Draymond being injured, he's been starting for the Warriors and has been representing in that regard also.  He's sorta developed into what the Dubs were hoping James Wiseman would be.

CONCLUSION

Even though Kuminga has been one of the most-popular rookies all season, perhaps the NBA didn't consider him for the Rising Stars Challenge because, up until recently, he wasn't really getting a lot of playing time.  But I would venture to presume that some of those other dudes they chose for the event hadn't really done anything exceptional up until that point either.  In fact whereas some, such as Desmond Bane and Evan Mobley, may have surprised us all with how good they are, others not so much.

In fact I'm almost tempted to cry racism, considering that Kuminga is from the Congo is not one of those Africans, like Giannis, who spent his life living in a White country.  But no one can stop the times, and I can still foresee the NBA being 50%+ African by the year 2030.

I do believe I heard one commentator recently say that getting snubbed has inspired Kuminga to play harder, like he has something to prove, which may be why he's been on such a tear as of late.  And it's true, that some people may react to lack of appreciation by even going harder than they had before.