Does anyone remember when Kyle Kuzma was the best player in practice for the Los Angeles Lakers?
Now the Lake Show Life staff wants to ask the Los Angeles Lakers fanbase if they haven’t seen this Hollywood production before. Kyle Kuzma gets a narrative or a “Caruso like push” that he is ready to take his place in the exalted third man role that LeBron James needs to win the NBA title.
For example like the Monday before the Lakers first scrimmage against the Dallas Mavericks.
After practice on Monday, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said that Kuzma has been one of the team’s best players since practices restarted. His words, according to Silver Screen and Roll.
"“He’s had a couple of stretches where he’s dominated the floor and it’s been really encouraging to see,” Vogel told reporters on his daily Zoom call. “He had some inconsistency with the beginning of our season because he dealt with three different injuries that really prohibited him from getting his legs under him. “The shot-making wasn’t always there, but it’s been there at a very high level during this restart, and we’re very encouraged and excited about what having a real training camp, or a healthy training camp could mean for him,” Vogel continued. “Hopefully that leads to an increased role and gives us that boost that we’re looking for.”"
Then the media gets a hold of it and runs with it.
Had heard that two Lakers who have stood out and impressed in Orlando practices so far are Kuzma and Caruso and that Kuzma is shooting lights out. https://t.co/jbiwPrSAHb
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) July 20, 2020
Aren’t these the same comments we heard about Kuzma last summer before he got injured at Team USA’s training camp? Kuzma’s played 54 games since then, but he hasn’t looked comfortable since. With the injuries, that was understandable.
Then the narrative starts that IF Kuzma can develop a consistent shot from beyond the arc makes him much more valuable alongside LeBron James.
Then Thursday came. Then went…BADLY!
The hype that Kuzma was the best player dominating in practice probably had editors questioning their beat reporters in the bubble for accuracy.
He was not efficient scoring the ball only tallying 9 points on 4-13 shooting. He broke offensive sets, turned the ball over twice and a lowlight that will be played every time Luka Doncic is discussed for the rest of the postseason.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1286447701521907712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286447701521907712%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2020%2F07%2F24%2Flos-angeles-lakers-lebron-anthony-davis-mavericks%2F
In a loss where LeBron James and Anthony Davis were razor-sharp, Kyle Kuzma was easily one of the worst (If not the worst!) player on the roster to touch the floor.
While Lakers fans were ready to call Kyle Kuzma the next Jordan Clarkson, this embarrassing performance just was a microcosm of the extreme backlash of Lakers Nation.
But while the media were putting up offseason trade scenarios (More on that in a minute! Keep reading, it makes you roll your eyes!), Kyle Kuzma has a birthday the next day and someone ordered a 3 point shot as gift from Amazon seemingly.