This season has certainly been an adjustment for Kyle Kuzma. Despite the reigning champs maintaining their spot near the top of the West standings this season as they look to defend their title, Kuzma has seen his role shifted as he’s been brought off the bench in order to motivate him to find more consistency with his play.
Mostly, it’s been a success, and on Friday night against the Pacers, Kuzma put in one of his best performances of the season, as he finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds on 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from three to help give the Lakers a 105-100 win. Thirteen of those points came in the fourth quarter, the majority of which happened over a three-minute flurry midway through the period where Kuzma caught fire.
He led a 16-4 run by the Lakers, punctuated with back-to-back threes, which helped bring us possibly the quote of the season. Here’s what Kuzma told reporters after the game as he was looking to LeBron to find him on that possession.
I had to clip this Kyle Kuzma (@kylekuzma) quote because it is absolutely PRICELESS!! (Question by @mcten and funny reaction by @DanWoikeSports) – I couldn’t keep it together. Too funny! pic.twitter.com/w0xoFHtDof
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 13, 2021
Truly incredible stuff from Kuzma here. As you can see from the video, it took the reporters a minute to gather themselves after that one, and only time will tell what LeBron will have to say in response to that, but it’s certainly an instant classic media moment for the budding Lakers star.