Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma has been named in the NCAA basketball corruption case.
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to get back on the court tonight when they host the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers will be getting Lonzo Ball back in the fold, albeit on a limited basis.
However, the biggest news in the basketball world comes from college basketball. The NCAA basketball corruption case had the first results released today. In the report, there are a number of institutions and players named. There were reportedly thousands of dollars exchanged between former NBA agent Andy Miller, his former associate Christian Dawkins and his agency of ASM sports.
The story was quite a read, and it should only be the beginning. There were present and passed players named. One of the past players named is actually the Lakers Kyle Kuzma.
According to the report, Kuzma received at least $9,500 while in school at the University of Utah. In addition to Kuzma, Lakers summer league player, P.J. Dozier, was mentioned in the report. He received at least $6,115 while in school at South Carolina according to documents.
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There could be fall out at Utah because of the news involving Kuzma, but this should not impact the Lakers at all.
Kuzma is having a great rookie season with the Lakers, and this could throw a little bit of wrench in that. Having to answer questions about this could be a distraction for Kuzma, and he was struggling a bit going into the All-Star break. Hopefully, this doesn’t get him too much off track, as the Lakers need him to start playing good basketball once again.
Kuzma wasn’t the only player from this year’s draft class mentioned in the report. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Markelle Fultz, reportedly received $10,000 during his time at Washington.
Edrice Adebayo, also known as Bam, played his single season of college basketball at Kentucky and was also mentioned. He is mentioned in the report for both $12,000 and $36,500. The person who takes the cake is Dennis Smith Jr.
The North Carolina State product, who was selected No. 9 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, is connected to the highest money total in the article. Smith Jr. received $43,500 according to the documents. Another document said Smith Jr. received $73,500, with plans to recoup the money after Smith Jr. didn’t sign with the agency.
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This is a huge blow for college sports. This is only the beginning, as the landscape of college basketball could be changed as a result of these findings.