Warrior Insider

Having grown up in Los Angeles, Dominick Brumfield is used to life in the fast lane.

So when his career with the Hawaii basketball team started with a stall and then months of slow progress, it was understandable that he’d be as frustrated as a person stuck in L.A. traffic.

“That was probably the most frustrated I’ve ever been as long as I’ve been playing the game of basketball,” Brumfield said of the knee injury that kept him sidelined for all of the team’s preseason conditioning drills and practices.

Because he missed so much time, Brumfield first had to work his way back into basketball condition, and then learn the plays that his teammates had already learned.

“I’m still getting in the mix of things,” he said. “I have a really good grasp and understanding of the offense right now. I still have a lot more to learn, but I’m getting acclimated to the whole system.”

With his knee on the mend, Brumfield is finally merging his way back to the fast lane, and catching up to teammates. He still has to complete rehabilitation drills every day to strengthen his knee, and estimates that it is “in the high 80s” as a percentage of complete recovery.

When healthy, Brumfield can be a versatile option for the Warriors. At 6 feet 8 and 215 pounds, he has the size to play in the post. But he also has perimeter skills and is quick and long enough to defend smaller players.

“I can do everything from dribble the ball real well for my size, pass the ball well, I think I’m a really good defender and I shoot the ball,” he said. “I’m just an overall player.

“I still need to do things to improve my game … the injury was a setback, and I still want to do things to get back to the pace of where I was.”

When it comes to advice as far as dealing with adversity, Brumfield has already received words of wisdom from some of the game’s best. During the past few summers, he has worked out with several NBA players in the Los Angeles area, and even had a chance to chat with the most famous L.A. player of this generation, Kobe Bryant.

“I actually met him a couple times and he’s a real cool guy,” Brumfield said. “I got a chance to talk to him and he was able to correspond with me a couple things that has to do with basketball and a couple off the court things.”

Brumfield has also had the opportunity to chat with former NBA player and current TV analyst Jalen Rose about a potential future beyond basketball. Brumfield would like to major in communications, in hopes that he could become a broadcaster some day.

“He was telling me that he took a lot of communications classes that really helped him with what he’s doing as a NBA commentator, so that’s what I’m in the process of doing,” Brumfield said.