Draymond Green is still firmly in Jonathan Kuminga’s corner, but he isn’t impressed with how his former teammate’s agent has handled things.
Kuminga turned down a reported $75 million offer from the Warriors before eventually signing a two-year, $12.4 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He also reportedly rejected a three-year offer from the Lakers worth $12 million annually.
Now, Green has questioned agent Aaron Turner’s approach after Turner recently discussed Kuminga’s situation and described him as the “best player” on the Hawks following his mid-season trade to Atlanta.
“Today more than ever, agents, players, everybody, you’re under the biggest microscope you’ve ever been under,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “In part due to social media, in part due to podcasts, there’s a medium everywhere for you to speak. And so, in turn, there’s more accessibility to everybody to quotes talk. So there’s that and because you have that, one of the strongest opinions in our game, in our business, is public opinion. And so in dealing with this these things, you have to understand public opinion at times can dominate the actual sport we love, the business we love. …
“And so when I look at that quote, as you all know, I am the biggest Jonathan Kuminga fan there is. That’s my young fella. I love him. I love to see him do well. I’m rooting for him to do well. You know, I like all of that. That will never change. But what I also do know is public opinion doesn’t believe this. And because public opinion does not stand on that same side of the street, you’re going to get destroyed by public opinion.”
Green then took his criticism further, arguing Turner’s public defense appeared more focused on protecting himself and attracting future clients than helping Kuminga.
“That ain’t cool at all,” Green said. “That’s very self-serving. Let me look out for myself for my next client so he know what happened. I’m speaking to them.”