SAN FRANCISCO — While Jonathan Kuminga has been taken out of the Golden State Warriors’ rotation, interest in his situation and future with the franchise remains strong enough that his teammates and coach still get asked about him on a daily basis. Steph Curry, the most important player in the Warriors’ universe, was about the only player who hadn’t weighed in on Kuminga’s situation recently.

That changed after Thursday’s practice. Curry, who is off the injury report and set to return Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing the last five games with a quad contusion, was asked several questions relating to the 23-year-old Kuminga.

Specifically, Curry described the weight young players have in trying to get better individually while also balancing the responsibility of fitting into a system, particularly one as established as Golden State’s.

“Really, the hardest part is, whether it’s going well or whether it’s not, (is) not losing your spirit,” Curry said. “That’s been JK’s challenge as a young player. Things change so quickly, and there’s all these declarations about who he is as a player, and does he fit, and all that type of stuff.”

Curry handled the Kuminga questions as best he could. Like coach Steve Kerr, Curry faces a difficult balancing act each time he is asked about the player who seems to be on so many people’s minds, even when he’s out of the rotation. Curry is aware of what’s being said about his team and knows the conversation about Kuminga isn’t going anywhere until there’s a resolution, one way or the other, in the next couple of months.

For the time being, Curry, as the leader of the Warriors and the man every other player on the team looks to for guidance, must project confidence that if and when Kuminga sees the floor again, the young forward will produce.

“We still have high hopes that he’ll impact our team this year,” Curry said. “But it’s just an idea you can’t lose your spirit when things aren’t going your way, because you’re a game or two away from it coming right back to you. And if you’ve checked out, or if you’re still not engaged in the learning process, then you might miss your moment on the back end. So it is a back-and-forth, and it’s the responsibility of both sides. As a team, it’s our job to support him because we know he’s a great dude, a very talented player, (and) we still have belief that he can help us.”

When Kuminga arrived late to training camp in late September as negotiations on his eventual two-year $48.5 million contract bled into the beginning of the new season, it was Curry who said he was confident Kuminga would be focused and ready to work when he arrived. Now, as Kuminga’s future with the Warriors hangs in the balance leading up to the Feb. 5 trade deadline, both Curry and Kerr hope Kuminga will stay locked in.

Curry was asked about Kerr’s comments Wednesday about young players in the league needing to “find themselves” and “figure out who they are as a player.”

“I think the hardest part is, every year, probably, as a young guy, multiple times a year, your role can change, kind of on the fly,” Curry said. “How do you adapt while maintaining your idea of who you are as a player? And also, what’s going to keep you around in this league, and what you can do to help a team win, (will you) get rewarded for that as you go through?”

Each Warriors player who has answered questions about Kuminga’s situation this season has empathy for what he is going through. In almost every case, they’ve gone through difficult moments in the early stages of their careers, too. Kerr has repeatedly noted that he played on six different teams while trying to find his own path as a player. Curry understands the growing pains because he went through some of them himself.

“That (second) year (of my career), it was like, ‘How do you continue to make winning plays, especially down the stretch?’” Curry continued. “Because I didn’t get to play much in fourth quarters my second year. And then it was continuing to evolve from there.

“Everybody’s journey is a little different, but (there’s) that balance of who you think you are as a player versus what a team needs you to do in any given moment throughout a year. Then, also, what is gonna help that team win, where is the league going and what kind of role can you establish? All those things, you have to kind of assess on a daily basis.”

Kerr reiterated that he feels that his relationship with Kuminga is solid, even though the forward finds himself outside the rotation again. Kuminga said after Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bulls that his relationship with Kerr is “good.”

“I agree with him,” Kerr said. “We’ve communicated well over the years. And I like him, and I want the best for him. I want him to be the best player he can be. We’ve had plenty of communication and film sessions over the years, and it’s been a good relationship.”

As Kuminga’s situation continues to play out, the Warriors’ roster is almost whole again. Veteran big men Draymond Green (personal reasons) and Al Horford (sciatica) will not play Friday against the Timberwolves, but the rest of the roster should be up and running.

That includes Curry, who said he was “feeling great” heading into Friday’s game. He said he got full range of motion in the quad “three, four days ago” and is confident he’ll be able to find his rhythm quickly.

That means Curry should get his first extended chance to play with Pat Spencer, the fiery 29-year-old who helped push the Warriors to two straight victories.

“It was amazing to watch,” Curry said. “We’ve seen it over the summers, (at) practices, when he’s been out there in short spurts, he just has a presence about him, that he just knows the game. Plays with 120 percent confidence every time he’s out there. As kind of a playmaker role, it was cool to see him kind of adapt to what we needed pretty much overnight.”

Spencer went viral in a Dec. 4 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers after hitting a clutch 3-pointer and screaming “I’m that mother f*****” to the crowd. From a distance, Curry wasn’t surprised at all when he saw that sequence.

“I remember the first day I was playing pickup with him, he was talking trash to me,” Curry said. “Like three years ago, right before training camp. So it’s nothing new, it’s just great for the world to see it.”

As for the rest of the Warriors, Curry hopes they’ll find the rhythm they’ve been seeking all season during an upcoming stretch that features 14 of their next 20 games at home.

“Nobody’s happy with our record. Nobody’s feeling like we’re a day away from being the best team in the league. But we also know the journey ahead is right there for us,” Curry said. “And for us to bounce back the way we did from the (76ers) game, and end that road trip the way that they did (with back-to-back wins over the Cavaliers and Bulls), that speaks volumes to mentally, where we are.”