"Kumanga": LeBron James pulls off a Charles Barkley by mispronouncing Jonathan Kuminga's name
Charles Barkley is notorious for butchering player names from time to time. And LeBron James unintentionally pulled a Barkley in the latest episode of "Mind the Game." JJ Redick and LeBron were dissecting basketball plays, discussing the spread pick-and-roll. They ended up talking about the Golden State Warriors.
LeBron is familiar with the Warriors offense, having faced them in four straight NBA Finals from 2015-2018 as a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, several things have changed since then.
LeBron has moved on to join the LA Lakers, and the Warriors have added several young players such as Jonathan Kuminga. As an honest mistake or perhaps unfamiliarity, LeBron mispronounced Kuminga's name.
"The problem you don't understand is that you're now unlocking Draymond [Green's] superpower offensively," LeBron said, talking about the Warriors pick-and-roll offense.
"Now Draymond has his four-on-three.'I'm gonna have [Andre] Iguodala on the pass now [Andrew] Wiggins and Kumanga, they're gonna be in that opposite corner and if you help up too early, there's gonna be a lob and that is demoralizing." [46:59]
The duo was caught up in talking about Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors. Neither of the two noticed James' blunder in pronouncing the young forward's name.
JJ Redick went on to talk about drills he did in practice to defend the spread pick-and-roll offense.
LeBron James can once again lock horns with the Golden State Warriors in a high-stakes environment
LeBron James has moved on to join the LA Lakers, and the Golden State Warriors are not the same team from their dynasty years. However, LeBron and the Warriors can't seem to shake one another.
Last year, Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson faced a LeBron-led team in the playoffs. The Western Conference semifinals pitted the Lakers and the Warriors, which LeBron and Co. won in six games.
The Lakers and the Warriors are nine and ten in the West, respectively, this season. Both teams have had their fair share of struggles all year long. It seems like one of their seasons is destined to end in the play-in tournament.
The ninth and tenth-place teams will battle each other in the play-in. And unless something drastic changes in the West, these two teams could remain in those places by the time the regular season concludes.
If this happens, we could see another classic battle between LeBron and the Warriors.