Kuminga is traveling with the team and practicing but still not cleared to return
As the Golden State Warriors embark on a five-game East Coast road trip, they’ll have to wait at least one game for the return of Jonathan Kuminga.
Jonathan Kuminga will remain out in Orlando tomorrow night to open the Warriors’ road trip. Still waiting on final Rick Celebrini green light. He’s been scrimmaging. At final stage of return from ankle injury. Middle of road trip a possibility.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 26, 2025
Kuminga is practicing. Kuminga is scrimmaging. That means he’s engaged in the two most exciting words in the vernacular of the Golden State Warriors: Ramping Up!
The Warriors’ 22-year-old forward has missed the team’s last 24 games with a severe ankle sprain. He returned to practice last week, but won’t make it back into the Warriors’ game against the Orlando Magic Thursday night. According to Anthony Slater, it’s possible that Kuminga will return in the “middle” of the road trip, which runs from Feb. 27 to next Thursday, March 6.
Kuminga is averaging 16.8 points this season heading into restricted free agency, but his injury was badly-timed both for the team and for Kuminga to show his value. The team has gelled with Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski in the starting lineup with Jimmy Butler, but Golden State could certainly use Kuminga’s scoring punch off the bench. With Draymond Green playing well with Butler, the Warriors may try to pair Kuminga with Steph Curry more.
But with the team on a four-game winning streak, the team may not feel the need to rush Kuminga back. The ultimate call goes to Rick “Macklin’s Dad” Celebrini, the team’s director of sports medicine and performance, and he hasn’t given the green light yet.
If there’s an ideal time to ease Kuminga back, it might be Monday against the Charlotte Hornets. It’s the first game of a back-to-back, with the team facing the New York Knicks Tuesday, and the Warriors didn’t have a lot of trouble with the Hornets this week in San Francisco. It also gives Kuminga four days of ramping, a crucial phase in any injury recovery.
So Kuminga’s still out, but his return is imminent. To paraphrase the great Kate Bush, he’ll be rampin’ up that road, rampin’ up that hill, and rampin’ up that building — and we hope, with no problems.