Kyle Kuzma has been a fan favorite for the Los Angeles Lakers since he came into town. Unfortunately, there have been some serious questions about his long-term fit with the franchise. One of the reasons for those questions is the ego that he has.
In a recent quote on the Locked On Lakers podcast, ESPN’s Jorge Sedano opened up a bit on Kuzma and his concerns moving ahead for the young forward.
If he was willing, moving forward, to just say to himself, this is what I’m going to be on this championship team, I’m gonna be the guy who shoots wide-open threes, and I’m gonna be the guy that moves off the ball and get easy buckets at the rim because everyone’s paying attention to LeBron and AD. If he can subjugate his ego a little, I think that he can, he can be a piece on a championship team or a championship level team for a really, really, really long time. I just worry about him and his disposition when it comes to that role.
During the 2019-20 NBA season with the Lakers, Kuzma ended up averaging 12.8 points per game to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He shot 43.6 percent from the floor overall and knocked down 31.6 percent of his three-point attempts.
At just 25 years old, Kuzma has been an important piece of the Lakers’ offense in the postseason. His ability to stretch the floor has come in handy quite often. However, there have been some issues with him trying to do too much.
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, Kuzma should not force shots. That is something he will need to learn moving forward.
As far as his ego, those are legitimate concerns. If he wants to be more than a role player around two superstars, that could cause some issues. Kuzma could also be happy with being the third scoring option, which would make things go smoothly.
Only time will tell what the future for Kuzma with the Lakers looks like. There are a lot of concerns, but they may never end up coming to pass.
Expect to hear a lot more about Kyle Kuzma after the season. He could be mentioned in trade rumors again if the Lakers want to make a move for a third star, but if not it will be interesting to see how he plays next season.
