Kyle Kuzma, all of 22, is out here being the voice of reason.
People have taken to disparaging Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball in recent weeks—more so than usual. His shooting percentages are in the toilet, and head coach Luke Walton has benched him for a couple key fourth-quarter runs. Given the hype attached to his NBA arrival, along with the outspoken nature of his father, LaVar Ball, the first-year point guard has been the subject of vitriol and general “Is he a bust?” discussions.
Kuzma, a fellow rookie, has a message for those hot-take artists: Shut the eff up.
Per Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell:
Kyle Kuzma on Lonzo after practice: “Everybody wants him to be a Hall of Famer right now. There are 10-year vets playing way worse. He’ll be all right.”
No can for sure say that Lonzo will be just fine. But Kuzma is correct about the rampant hot-taking. Ball’s career is less than 20 games old. Seeking to discredit his initial career arc now is insane.
Does he need to hone his touch around the basket? Yes. Must he prove he can hit shots from the perimeter? Sure. Doe he need to show that he’s willing to shoot at all and not fall into these protracted stretches of passiveness? Again, yes.
Look a little closer, though, and Ball has been pretty good defensively, opportunistically grabbing steals and swatting some shots from behind. If he can leverage his length so that his foot speed, or lack thereof, isn’t an issue in what was once considered the weakest part of his game, it stands to reason he’ll figure things out on the offensive end—the side on which he was billed as a superstar before ever setting foot in the NBA.
Props to Kuzma for being the voice of reason here. I’m not sure what that says about the rest of us, since he’s so damn young and delivering the more rational slant, but props to him all the same.
