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But how do Golden State’s players actually feel about the situation? Third-year guard Brandin Podziemski revealed how he and his Warriors teammates view the Kuminga noise in a conversation with 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” on Wednesday. “Obviously, everybody on our team knows it's the media’s job to try to nitpick and find things to write and talk about and separate teammates so they have a story to write,” Podziemski told Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “Like, we all know that’s how it works; especially the guys who have been around it for 10 to 15 years, they know how it works. “Everybody in the locker room knows no matter how that situation’s resolved, it doesn’t change our viewpoint of JK as a person [and] as a player. Obviously, we all want him to be in Golden State; that’s the whole point. But it doesn’t change anything.”
“The media is going to portray it one way to try and make people think differently of it,” Podziemski told Willard and Dibley. “But it doesn’t change my perspective. I know all I can control is being the best version of Brandin Podziemski that I can be going into my third year, and everything else is going to fall how it may.”
Bryan Kalbrosky: Coleman Hawkins will play NBA summer league with the Golden State Warriors, per source. The former Kansas State big man was briefly teammates with Golden State's Brandin Podziemski at Illinois. Full tracker of other notable undrafted free agents: ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/n…
Anthony Slater: Brandin Podziemski underwent surgery yesterday to repair a core muscle injury, Warriors announce. It occurred midseason, forced him to miss games and clearly still bothered him into the summer. Podziemski also had wrist surgery recently. He's expected to be ready for camp.
Brandin Podziemski on the Finals: "Yeah, I’m super excited for it. I’m glad it was the Pacers and not the Knicks because I feel like if it was the Knicks, it would’ve been a sweep — just because I don’t think the Knicks had enough to compete with OKC, both offensively and defensively. So, I think the Pacers — on any given night — they play, what, 10 guys? And there are games where all 10 of them score in double figures. So you don’t necessarily know where the points are coming from with Indiana, and I think that’s what OKC is really good at stopping.
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Brandin Podziemski: Obviously, I want to be an All-Star — as soon as I can be — whether that’s with Steph and them here, or it’s when they’re done. I want to do that. I want to be an Olympian in 2028 — definitely something I have my sights on. And I just want to be a household name, somewhere where it can be me and a bunch of other guys winning a championship. That’d be kind of ideal for me."
Brandin Podziemski: As a young player, when you’re struggling or things aren’t going your way and the team doesn’t go away from you, and they tell you, ‘We trust you. You’re our guy’ — that’s big for somebody’s mental and it’s big for somebody’s performance. For them to trust him — what is he in, year 16 or 17 coming up? — all these years, to see him in a different uniform doesn’t make sense. And I know if he was to be in a different uniform, it’d be by his choice — it wouldn’t be the Warriors’ organization."
Bobby Marks on Jonathan Kuminga: “It all depends on him. It really comes down to that he basically controls free agency in Golden State because if they sign him to a contract and bring him back, then that's really it as far as what they can do in the offseason, as far as they might have one of their smaller exceptions and everything here. And then you look at the rest of the roster, and it's like, okay, is it [Buddy] Hield? Is it Brandin [Podziemski]? Some of these other players… Guys that are not making that much money. It will be interesting as far as paying attention to what happens to teams looking to shed salary. Certainly Boston is a team that we’ll circle as far as what happens with the Celtics here. Orlando is another team that’s got a pretty high cost moving forward.”
Anthony Slater: Brandin Podziemski underwent left wrist debridement surgery yesterday, per Warriors. Expected back for training camp.
KNBR: "There were times in this series where [Podz] was hesitant to shoot... I thought he could have gotten 10 or 11 threes off tonight, and we needed those. I told him that after the game I said 'when we get back here next year, you are not gonna turn down a single shot.'" Steve Kerr wants Brandin Podziemski to let it fly:
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Anthony Slater: The Warriors will start Trayce Jackson-Davis at center tonight. From out of the rotation to a major role. Game 3 starters Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Trayce Jackson-Davis
Without Curry’s gravity, the Warriors are far less potent. Butler prefers to be a playmaker rather than an alpha scorer. Podziemski has been quiet through two games. Jonathan Kuminga had 18 points in Game 2 but has been wildly inconsistent, as has Hield, who did go 4 of 9 from 3, but didn’t get going until the Wolves were up by 20 points. “He wants to win,” Donte DiVincenzo said of Conley. “Everybody wants to win, but you just see how hard he’s playing in whatever stints he has. He’s giving everything he has.”
ClutchPoints: The Warriors outlast the Rockets in a THRILLER as they take a COMMANDING 3-1 series lead 🔥 Brandin Podziemski: 26 points 9-of-18 FG 6-of-11 3PT Jimmy Butler: 27 points 6 assists 7-of-12 FG
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