After their loss against the Mavericks a few days ago, the Los Angeles Lakers won their first scrimmage. They defeated Orlando Magic with a score of 119-112. Kyle Kuzma was the top scorer in the game, followed by LeBron James. Anthony Davis had to walk off after the first half after being poked in the eye. J.R. Smith was one of the first two new Lakers’ guards to be pulled off the bench. He replaced Dion Waiters’ spot in the rotation from the previous game.  The top Lakers stats were:

• Kyle Kuzma: 25 points, 7 rebounds
• LeBron James: 20 points, 7 assists
• Anthony Davis: 9 points,10 rebounds
• JaVale McGee: 8 points, 5 rebounds
• Alex Caruso: 3 points, 2 assists

LeBron James Appreciative of Kuzma and J.R.

LeBron James took to Instagram to celebrate his teammates’ achievements. After the game, he posted two Instagram stories. One dedicated to Kuzma and the other for Smith.

In the first story, he emphasizes on Kyle’s exceptional 25 points and makes a reference to his age as he recently turned 25 as well.

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The story says, ” TURN 25 THEN DROP 25. NUMBER MAGIC!“. He then tags Kyle and says “TOUGH“.

His next story is for J.R. Smith to applaud his passing skills. The story says, ” GREAT A** PASS BRO!!” after which he even tags Smith on the story.

It is this sportsman spirit and team support that makes the LA Lakers so popular and likable.

Rob Perez on J.R. Smith

J.R Smith is a fairly new edition to the Los Angeles Lakers but has always been put on a high pedestal. The Lakers coach, Frank Vogel speaks very positively about Smith.

He said,“Watching him workout, he’s done a remarkable job of keeping himself in shape and staying ready … His nickname is “Swish” for a reason. I think he’s really going to help us,”. 

In the next and final scrimmage, LA Lakers will be facing the Washington Wizards on July 27th.