Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma: “I Want to Make The All-Star Game”

Kyle Kuzma is in the focus of the media this morning. The Lakers forward had been named the MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge last night, after he led team USA to a win over team World, 161-144.

So far in his short professional career, this is the biggest honor he received. Though, he did have one MVP award before this one. It was during his first NBA Summer League after the 2017 draft. Back then, Kuzma was the Summer League Championship Game MVP, after leading his Lakers to a title against the Trail Blazers in the finals.

But we aren’t going to compare these two awards. It is simply not polite.

Instead, we are going to talk about his performance from last night. Kuzma dropped 35 points, in 22 minutes, leading his team along with Trae Young in the moments when team World made their final push of the game. These two guys need to be credited the most for this triumph.

After the game, Kuz explained his motivation for this exhibition event.

“I think last year I came in, and I was like super cool. Just you know, excited to be here,” Kuzma said. “I was just playing nonchalant. But this year I wanted to get it.”

Kyle Kuzma puts up 35 to take home the #MTNDEWICERisingStars MVP! pic.twitter.com/5Gxa9IvoHI

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2019

And he did step up and play hard. With the game on the line, he scored eight points in the late part of the fourth period. It is when team USA finally broke the resistance of the opponents and clinched this contest.

There is one more reason why he wanted a victory in last night’s match. In fact, 25,000 reasons, green ones.

“I think it was the second timeout, and I broke the huddle saying, bonus, one, two, three.” Lakers’ forward said at the press conference after one of the reporters asked him is it true that he motivated the teammates mentioning the financial award for winning the game.

Another one asked him about the step to the next level after winning this award, what does he think, what would that be.

The sophomore didn’t spend a second to think, before saying that his goal is the All-Star game.

“Trying to make the All-Star game next year, that is the next level. Just working hard… I got the confidence that I can one day be an All-Star in this league. That’s definitely a goal.”

Kuzma is playing solid this season and is one of the best players on the Lakers team. Of all the guys from the young core, he has shown the most, and imposed him to be the leader when LeBron is not on the court. In 32.7 minutes per game, Kuz is averaging 19.1 points, with 5.6 boards.

Still, the Lakers are not in the playoff zone, and that is something which casts a shadow on his excellent performances. He also spoke about that with the Gametime crew, after the Rising Star game.

He has no doubts that the defense is the primary cause of the current situation. If purple and gold improve that area, things would be much different, and they would reach the playoff spot.

“We just got to find out our defensive identity. You know, that was been a top 10 defensive team all year. We let it slip for the last month… we score with anybody, so you know just defense.”

The 24-year old was constantly in the media headlines during the finish of the trade period. Lakers were pursuing Anthony Davis, and they wanted Eyebrow at all costs. The one name which always appeared in the trade offer was Kuzma, who didn’t care about it.

Despite his youth, he proved to be a great professional and continued to play with the maximum of his abilities. He even said in one interview, that he understands if he gets traded to New Orleans.

But if he continues to play like this, Lakers could change their mind and keep him in LA, long-term.