Its games like this that Kyle Kuzma drives Lakers fans nuts. Will the Los Angeles Lakers be next?
The headline here seems strange, but the Los Angeles Lakers will have to make a franchise-altering decision on a contract extension for Kyle Kuzma. Sure, Kyle Kuzma has the talent to go off in certain games like this one, but who knows what this team gets from Kyle Kuzma on a consistent basis with LeBron James sharing the floor?
But Lake Show Life Lessons is about one game. So what happened?
- Did the Lakers fanbase cyberbully him after Thursday’s loss to get him focused?
- Did his girlfriend’s airplane message wishing him Happy Birthday make him feel good?
- Maybe he got a jump shot for his birthday?
Well when Lake Show Life’s editor supreme Jason Reed starts clowning you, maybe he got the message.
Live look into Kyle Kuzma defending Luka Doncic: #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/9HjLBCA0FC
— Lake Show Life (@TheLakeShowLife) July 23, 2020
Whatever the reason, Kyle Kuzma was the game’s first substitute replacing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Then something happened. Kyle Kuzma knocked down 3 point shots. To borrow a phrase from LeBron James, not one, not two, not three.
Kyle Kuzma went nuts knocking down four straight 3 point shots in the first quarter. He ended up hitting his first six shots overall. His explosion led the Lakers to a huge 35-19 lead after the first frame.
HIGHLIGHTS: @kylekuzma pours in 25 points and five triples on 10-of-13 shooting pic.twitter.com/fHjBfEpR2g
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 25, 2020
To put this performance in perspective, before the league shutdown, Kuzma was in a 6-43 slump from behind the arc. That adds up to about 15 percent for the statisticians scoring at home. In layman’s teams, Kyle Kuzma literally and figuratively couldn’t shoot 3 point shots.
This is the Kyle Kuzma, Lakers fans saw earlier this season in Oklahoma City when Davis and LeBron were out. He seemed comfortable getting to his spots and kept going with his scoring in the second half. Kuz finished with a team-high 25 points on 10-13 shooting.
What’s even more exciting is that Frank Vogel and the coaching staff must have read him the riot act about his defense. Nobody is going to compare this guy to Michael Cooper, but he tried to put in a good effort on defense.
The problem here is, Lake Show Life can’t tell you which Kyle Kuzma will show up on Monday. He might just score 6 points? Who knows?
Well, let’s see how LeBron James did.