Jonathan Kuminga Snubbed For Rising Stars Challenge

The 7th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft and a future star of the Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga, will not be competing in any of the NBA All-Star Saturday night events. He will not be playing in the Rising Stars Challenge or the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for that matter. Juan Toscano-Anderson will be competing in the dunk contest even though one can argue that Kuminga is a stronger, more flashy dunker than he is.

As for the Rising Stars “Tournament” this season, it will look very different than it has in the past. That’s right, it’s a tournament now.

In the new format, 28 players (12 rookies, 12 sophomores, and 4 members of the NBA G League Ignite) will be drafted onto four teams coached by Rick Barry, Gary Payton, Isiah Thomas, and James Worthy to compete in a three-game tournament.

Each game will be played to a final target score, ending with a made basket or free throw instead of with the clock running out. Games 1 and 2 will be played until a team reaches 50 points and the championship game will be played until a team reaches 25 points.

As for the players actually picked for this tournament, here are all the rookies that were chosen over Jonathan Kuminga and there were a couple head-scratching choices.

Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

Ayo Dosunmu, Chicago Bulls

Chris Duarte, Indiana Pacers

Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder

Jalen Green, Houston Rockets

Herbert Jones, New Orleans Pelicans

Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings

Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers

Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets

Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic

Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic

The 6’7” Kuminga is averaging 6.8 PPG and 2.5 RPG in his rookie season. In his last 10 games, he’s put together a stretch of averages at 9.3 PPG and 4.2 RPG.

Even though he was left off the roster for this event, Kuminga is receiving a lot of love from his Golden State coaches about what they’ve seen from the young 19 year-old so far this season.

“The best growth is slow growth,” Golden State Warriors assistant Jama Mahlalela recently told Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle. “The chance for (Kuminga) to be an All-Star is a real one. He could be an All-Star perennially.”

The Rising Stars Challenge will still be a lot of fun to watch but it will definitely be missing one key competent from the league’s future talent in Jonathan Kuminga. Maybe they’ll get it right next year and he’ll be picked to represent the sophomore class for the event.

Follow Arden Cravalho on Twitter @a_cravalho.

(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)