Mentioning the representative of the NBA players who are handsome and can play, kyle Kuzma, a wizard player who has become widely known as a former Lakers player, can be called one of the representatives. After switching to the Wizards in the trade involving Wei Shao, Kuzma has played a fairly stable and reliable performance, especially after entering 2022, the performance has signs of rising, and the average level of 25 points and 11 rebounds in the past 10 games is close to the existence of All-Stars.
In fact, after entering the league and playing some famous games with the Lakers, Kuzma has always been a popular player, and the discussion in the basketball forum is even higher than that of some fringe All-Stars, and the first half of the topic area is frequently listed after the game. Any well-known NBA player has his own anecdotes or anecdotes, and Kuzma is no exception.
In this article, I will sort out ten anecdotes about Kyle Kuzma for fans who are interested in him to get to know him more fully. Of course, due to space limitations, if there is any supplement or discussion, fans are welcome to add in the comments section.
First, about Kuzma's growth background
Kuzma, from the Flint slum of the michigan city, grew up in a single-parent family and was raised by his mother, Kelly Kuzma, who took her mother's surname. Kuzma abandoned him before he was born, and he never saw his own.
Kuzma's mother worked odd jobs in Flint to make ends meet, moving nine times in the 16 years since Kuzma was born. Because of the long hours outside the home, Kuzma's mother bought children's baskets when Kuzma was very young to keep him from getting bored at home, and the latter gradually fell in love with basketball and made it clear that he wanted to become a basketball player to escape the Flint slums. By the way, Kuzma and McGee are fellow countrymen, and it is also very fortunate to be teammates in their careers.
Second, Kuzma's rookie Nike sneaker contract was only $25,000
As the No. 27 pick of the 2017 draft, Kuzma was also older when he entered the league, and he was also a well-known newcomer before, and he could be selected in the first round and enter the Lakers to play thanks to the rare insight of the then general manager Magic Johnson.
As an older newcomer, no one was optimistic about Kuzma's development at the time, especially in the Lakers that had a lot of lots of lottery shows, and Nike's contract for Kuzma shoes that year was paid $50,000 for two years, an average of $25,000 a year, which was almost a shoe contract that could not be lowered.
However, two years later, Kuzma, who achieved a counterattack on the Lakers, was affirmed by Puma and got a five-year, $20 million endorsement contract before the rookie contract was finished. From the current point of view, Puma sincerely grabbed Kuzma in advance and made a small profit.
Kuzma was the FMVP of the Summer League
After being selected by the Lakers in 2017, Lakers rookie Kuzma, who has been widely concerned from obscurity, immediately introduced himself to the fans with an excellent summer league performance. After seven games in the Las Vegas Summer League that year, Kuzma averaged 21.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, taking the Lakers to the summer league championship and personally winning the summer league FMVP.
Kuzma has a good relationship with Lakers owner Jenny Bass
In the history of the NBA, there are not many examples of bosses and employees getting together, and the examples of female bosses and male employees having fun and having good personal relationships are very rare, after all, the female bosses who run NBA teams are very few in themselves, and the most representative example is naturally Kuzma and Jenny Bass.
During Kuzma's time with the Lakers, Jenny Bass often invited Kuzma to participate in some social occasions, kuzma, who was very pleasing to women, often took Jenny Bass into his arms, and the interaction between the two in social media was also very frequent, and Jenny Bass also gave gifts to Kuzma from time to time.
After Kuzma confessed to his vitiligo model girlfriend Winnie Harlow, Jenny gave him three bottles of first-class tequila to entertain him, and when asked about Kuzma in an interview, Jenny Bass had said that Kuzma was not only his player, the two were actually very good friends.
Kuzma contributed one of the gods to the lakers' revival
At the 2019 NBA Draft draw, as the favorite team of the female boss, Kuzma, wore a handsome suit to represent the Lakers in the lottery, according to the record and rules, the Chances of the Lakers drawing to the front of the draw were very low.
However, Kuzma exploded in the draw and won the No. 4 pick for the Lakers with a 2.8 percent chance, and the final pick for the No. 4 pick was DeAndre Hunter. Because of this No. 4 sign, which was a bit of a surprise to join the deal, the Lakers overpowered other opponents in the negotiation and got the coveted thick eyebrows in the three-way transaction involving pelicans and eagles.
Kuzma changed his jersey number in honor of Arenas and tribute to Kobe Bryant
After entering the NBA, Kuzma appeared in the No. 0 jersey, and like most players who chose the No. 0 jersey, the jersey number reminds himself that he is always starting a new chapter from 0.
After being traded to the Wizards, Kuzma opted for the No. 33 jersey, which currently belongs to Westbrook. After moving to the Wizards, he gave up the No. 0 because of respect for the Wizards star Arenas; later, in honor of Kobe Bryant, Kuzma chose the number 33 that Kobe bryant wore in high school.
Kuzma was often pulled by Rondo to the video studio to give one-on-one make-up lessons
In the past two seasons, Kuzma's progress on the defensive end has been more obvious, and he has gradually shed the label of attacking strong and defending weakly when he debuted, and what is not necessarily well known is that his former teammate Rondo is actually a big contributor behind the scenes.
Lakers coach Vogel has said in an interview that Rondo often pulls Kuzma into the studio one-on-one analysis of the video in his daily life, helping Kuzma improve his defense in constant criticism and guidance. After Kuzma left the Lakers, he wrote a long farewell letter, which also had a special appreciation for Rondo's willingness to spend so much time watching videos with him to teach him how to improve his defensive reading ability. However, in one session and one meeting, the two have now parted ways and left the Lakers.
Kuzma's best friend in the NBA is Monte Morris
From the same neighborhood, knowing each other since childhood, teaming up to participate in various basketball training, the same dark horse counterattack NBA experience, the Nuggets player Monte Morris who has played a wonderful performance this season, is Kuzma's best friend in the circle brother.
After Monte Morris got a three-year, $27 million contract last year, the good brother Kuzma even sent a short video to ridicule him, saying that he invited Monte to dinner every time he met after getting a big contract, and Monte began to pay for escape without answering his phone.
Kuzma missed the American Dream team due to injury
In the summer of 2019, Kuzma was named to the 12-man squad for the 2019 Basketball World Cup in China. Although the star taste of that year's Dream Team was mediocre, how to be among them is a highly affirmative and personal honor for a young player. Unfortunately, due to an ankle injury, Kuzma withdrew from the training camp at the last minute and failed to go to China with the team.
Kuzma once pushed James to make up for the defense in the game
In the author's impression, it can be said that Kuzma is a very kind of NBA player, a player who is very serious about the game, and the source of this impression lies in the rookie era, dare to directly push James in a daze in the official game to make up for the defense.
In the March 2019 game against the Clippers, when the Clippers performed a perfect bottom-ball tactic, Gallinari cut to the outside to execute a three-pointer, while James overlapped with Kuzma's running position and blocked Kuzma's front. When he saw gallinari ready to start the three-pointer, Kuzma's first reaction was to push James directly out to complete the defense, which was quite impressive.