Lakers News: Kyle Kuzma tries to help his hometown of Flint, Michigan

Recent Los Angeles Lakers news involves forward Kyle Kuzma, who is giving back to his hometown.

Recent Los Angeles Lakers news will make fans happy.

Kyle Kuzma is all right with me. Doesn’t matter what he does on the floor this year or what he did last year. By the way, to be clear, Kyle Kuzma was far and away the best Lakers rookie last year. Coming into this season, I know that Kuzma will be a major contributor in the Lakers rotation barring injury.

However, on a personal note, no matter what he does in his career going forward, he has done more off the court for me personally than even he realizes.

Kyle Kuzma, along with Rasheed Wallace and other NBA players, is trying to use their platform to bring awareness to the crisis in Kuzma’s hometown of Flint, MI concerning the water supply.

Wallace has spoken out numerous times, which included a post in the Players’ Tribune. Here’s a past tweet from Rasheed Wallace on Kevin Garnett‘s TNT show, Area 21 a little while back…

To get an understanding of what Kyle Kuzma, Rasheed and others are trying to shine the light on, you have to relate.

To the majority of the people that are reading this article. You can stop right now, get up and go to the sink and not worry about it being safe to drink. How about taking a shower? A bath? How about something as small as brushing your teeth?

Instead of using tap water, you’re forced to use bottled water. This is something, that for roughly four years, the residents of Flint had to do.

Try using brown, smelly tap water on a daily basis from corroded pipes. This is what the residents of Flint had to deal with since April 2014.

According to research used from Science News, Flint switched the city’s source of water from Detroit’s water system, which draws from Lake Huron to another that tapped the Flint River. The problem with that is there is no corrosion control, which wasn’t deemed necessary by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. This is considered a violation of federal law.

As of this writing, no one really has a clear focus if the crisis has passed or not based on past false analyses.

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Kyle Kuzma talked to ESPN about it.

"“It is just kind of sad for me, how America has let a city of its own deplete and kind of die,” Kuzma said. “We help third-world countries out, but we have a city that doesn’t have [clean] water. It doesn’t make sense. That is definitely one of the frustrating things. But that is why I am not a politician.”"

I can personally relate to Kyle Kuzma because quite a number of family members on my mother’s side live in Flint, Michigan. There are reports on how many financial issues some places in Detroit may have. Trust me, they are rich compared to Flint MI.

More from Kyle Kuzma courtesy of ESPN.

"“It pretty much is a third-world country,” Kuzma said of his hometown in a recent interview with ESPN. “A lot of crime, a lot of violence. You look at the city, it’s beat down, houses are boarded up and we don’t have [clean] water still. It’s been that way ever since 2014, and that is going on four, five years. It is definitely disheartening that we continue to let a city in America do this.”"

The crime in Flint is definitely not to be underestimated. There are places in the city you had better steer clear of unless you are with a resident that people know. Playing basketball on the outside courts can be a dangerous venture if you go alone.

I knew that Kuzma played well last year and showed no fear on the court. I was just recently told that he was from Flint. When I found that out, everything connected because, believe me, folks, if you can survive the courts of Flint, MI, the NBA is not that difficult. Trust me, I know from experience.

Hopefully, Kyle Kuzma can gain more exposure on this issue especially after LeBron James‘ efforts that went over so well in his hometown of Akron Ohio…

"“I am trying to do a lot,” Kuzma said. “Not so much now because I haven’t really made enough money [yet] to really make some things happen. … My thing is to keep spreading awareness.“During election time, [the water crisis] was such a big deal. And once that kind of went away, Flint went away. I want to try to keep it alive and really keep pushing it forward until I can do bigger and better things here.”"

Let’s hope so. Not to diminish what LeBron James has done opening a school in Akron, Ohio. That is an accomplishment that should be celebrated.

What Kuzma is showing people is a crisis that is considered a public health disaster.  A disaster that has taken twelve lives from Legionella poisoning and sickened dozens of others despite complaints of issues with the water from residents. The percentage of children under the age of five with high blood lead levels nearly doubled from 2.1 to four percent according to Science News.

All of this was happening while the government claimed the water was not corroded to dangerous levels. This issue was not extensively looked at until late 2015.

As a writer covering the Lakers, I hope that LeBron James does link up with Kyle Kuzma and provide some guidance to a young player on a cause that is more important off the court than on it.

"“LeBron is a role model in that sense,” Kuzma said. “Because for him to be as good as he is and how high up he is on the totem pole, to still care about Akron, Ohio, that is tremendous and speaks volumes.”“He is from a small city and I am from a small city. So I want to [have] that type of impact on my community.”"

I, for one, will definitely be rooting for you, Kyle.

I have family members that are depending on it.

If you want to help with Kyle’s cause, please donate to the Flint Water Fund.

On a further note, let’s take time and say a prayer to those affected by Hurricane Florence over the weekend. There were casualties and I dedicate this article not only to Kyle Kuzma’s cause but the hurricane victims as well.