Los Angeles Lakers: Kyle Kuzma shines in Rising Stars Challenge
By Ronald Agers
Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma played excellently in the Rising Stars Challenge, taking home the MVP award.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma wanted to get two things accomplished in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night.
One, he wanted to get some conditioning in for the stretch run for the playoffs for the Los Angeles Lakers. Two, he was trying to get that $25,000 bonus. Plus, that MVP trophy was nice to have too.
Kyle Kuzma is from Flint, Michigan and as a guy that has ties there, too, I know he was dead serious.
Kuzma came out the gate aggressive, scoring 14 points before everyone broke a sweat in the first four minutes of the game. By the half, his 23 points were among the Lakers stars that played before him.
At the end of the night, Kuzma led everyone in the building with 35 points on 15-of-27 shooting leading Team USA to a comfortable 161-144 win over the Team World squad.
Kuzma’s total passed Lakers icon, Kobe Bryant‘s 31 as the highest Lakers total in the Rising Stars Challenge extravaganza. He also found time to grab six rebounds and dish out two assists that would make Lonzo Ball proud.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1096607611972190208
Kevin Durant has the all-time record with 46 points.
Outside of the 3-of-10 he shot from the 3-point line, Kuzma really played well in this game. He only played 22 minutes (Come on Uncle Drew!), but you could see that he was out there playing hard and competing. This is something that he has done throughout his short career and it’s games like this that shows that he is taking the “Mamba Mentality” that is being taught to him by Kobe Bryant very seriously.
The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be always represented very well in this showcase. This year marks the fourth straight year that at least one player has played. Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball are the 13th and 14th players selected in the game’s history.
It’s funny how Kuzma constantly gets compared to Boston Celtics up and coming star Jayson Tatum along with the constant criticisms. It was no different in this game with people talking about the number of shot attempts. Dude just can’t live, can he?
I guess he’s getting used to it. Based on these comments he said to SiriusXMNBA.
"“Well, obviously the national media loves the Lakers. Everybody talks about it and when you add LeBron James to the mix, one of the greatest players, you’re going to have even more. But for me, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want people talking about me, good or bad, because if you’re not, you’re not doing something right. I’d rather be talked about bad in L.A. than play in Orlando and not get talked about.”"
Hope my man doesn’t get traded to Disney World for say…Nicola Vucevic. Karma can really be cruel sometimes.