Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve Kyle Kuzma, who is reportedly dealing with a hip strain.
With the NBA Trade Deadline quickly approaching, there will be plenty of Los Angeles Lakers rumors popping up. However, recent Lakers rumors don’t involve trade talks, instead, it is an injury update.
Injuries have derailed what was a strong season for the Lakers. On Christmas Day, Los Angeles defeated the defending champion Golden State Warriors, on the Warriors home floor nonetheless, 127-101.
Los Angeles was 20-14 and looked to be making their move to cement themselves among the Western Conference elite. Unfortunately, the injury bug would bite, again.
LeBron James suffered a groin injury and has not played since, missing 15 games. Rajon Rondo injured his hand and missed 14 games before returning against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lonzo Ball suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain against the Houston Rockets, which will sideline him 4-6 weeks. Now, another player is being added to the injury list in Kyle Kuzma.
Kuzma missed two games, Jan. 4 and 6 against the New York Knicks and Timberwolves, because of a back contusion suffered against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has played in the nine subsequent games since, but he has not been very healthy.
According to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group, Kuzma has been dealing with a strained hip since the Jan. 19 game against the Rockets. Wanting to be out there for his teammates, Kuzma has gutted it out and played in the two games since.
Kyle Kuzma says he’s been dealing with a hip strain since his big game in Houston. Just twisted hard on a play and it’s been bugging him since. He’s wanted to play through it because he hates missing games.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) January 25, 2019
It would be fair to question if Kuzma should have been playing in those games. He shot a combined 11-of-30 against the Warriors and Timberwolves, including 0-of-9 from the 3-point line. He scored 26 points in the two games with six rebounds, six assists and four turnovers.
Against Minnesota, Kuzma was benched by head coach Luke Walton on multiple occasions. He played only 28 minutes, as he just looked off throughout the whole game. Now, we have some insight as to why Kuzma may have been playing poorly.
It was good to see Kuzma out there playing through an injury for his team, especially with how many injuries the team is already dealing with. However, if he is not healthy enough to perform at a high level to help the team win, he should not be on the court.
The next game for the Lakers is against the Phoenix Suns. That is a team they should be able to defeat despite all of their injuries. Resting Kuzma for that game could be in consideration, especially with how daunting the schedule gets after that.
Los Angeles will head out on a six-game road trip following Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Getting Kuzma and some of the other players healthy for that trip should be priority No. 1 for Los Angeles.