In his latest interview, Kyle Kuzma stated that he is ready to develop and become the next superstar of the Lakers franchise.
The journalists approached Kuzma at the USA Basketball camp, where Lakers‘ player prepares with the rest of the team for the upcoming FIBA World Cup. The tournament will take place in China, and at the moment, Kuzma is one of the most valuable players, coach Gregg Popovich has.
Besides all the talks about the present situation with all the withdrawals coming down on the USMNT, the members of the media wanted to know what does he thinks of his future with the purple and gold.
“I don’t feel no pressure, but I believe that I am capable of being that superstar,”
the player confidently answered.
To back up that claim he stated that despite having a bad shooting percentage in 2018/19 season, he was still putting up good numbers. The situation within the Lakers’ crew dramatically changed, and he believes that it will just help him become even better than before.
The addition of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, along with already having LeBron James will create many opportunities for Kuzma. With two very dominant centers, there is no doubt, that the 6-foot-9 forward is about to have plenty of open shots.
And having in mind his style of play, that is something which will suit him perfectly.
“I’ve always played off the ball. It is going to be a little bit easier, going to have a lot of open shots.” Kuzma explained to the reporters.
On top of that, he is dedicated to improving his shooting potential, and will work on that throughout the summer. Spending time with the USA Basketball team and experiencing such an important international competition will, for sure help the 24-year old to develop into a superstar as he previously said.
During his last season with the Lakers, Kuzma played 70 games, and posted 18.7 points per night, along with 5.5 rebounds. The team didn’t reach the playoffs which turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments for this franchise in the last few years.
After adding LeBron James, the majority believed in Lakers’ comeback on the big stage, but things didn’t go that way. Instead, they suffered a meltdown, especially after an unsuccessful trade attempt for AD during the early part of 2019. After that, Magic Johnson decided to leave his positions in the franchise, and at one point everything looked pretty bad for the Lakers.
But fortunately, they landed Davis in California, and in return sent almost the entire young core of the team to Louisiana. Kuzma is the only one left in the City of Angles, as the executives believe in his value. On the other side, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart are all Pelicans now.
It appears that Kuz is the only one who might fit in the new vision Lakers have. According to many of the experts, he should be a version of Golden State’s Klay Thompson, only stronger.
The time will tell were they right.
