The Orlando bubble gave the NBA fans many performances worth remembering. Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), TJ Warren (Indiana Pacers), Luka Doncic (Mavericks), and Damian Lillard (Blazers) are a few names that took everyone by surprise. One other name that must be included in this list is the name of Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma.
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Kyle is playing his career’s first post-season. He has been associated with the Lakers from the past three seasons. The last season went better for him in terms of averaging higher points per game and having a better field goal percentage. But this season specifically helped him gain confidence in his defensive abilities.
The Los Angeles Lakers forward has responsibilities on his shoulders
The 25-year-old man came into limelight in the seeding games when he scored a buzzer-beater from behind the arc and helped win Lakers 124-121 against the Nuggets. In that game, he got 25 points, 6 rebs, and 3 assists. That shot proved to the outer world that the Lakers trust Kyle for taking such clutch shots.
Post that match and the words of praise from LeBron James, people began counting Kyle Kuzma as the third option for the Lakers. They began discussing that the star duo finally has a third option to bank on. Reflecting on the same remark, the Kriss Kross told media, “Everybody makes a big deal out of me being our third option, but to me our team is not really built like that.”
* @kylekuzma: “Everybody makes a big deal out of me being our third option, but to me our team is not really built like that." His focus has been on trying to be the "third best player." That includes defense, and generally competing hard and trying to make winning plays.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) August 31, 2020
So the thing with Kyle is that he does not want to be the team’s third option, instead, he wants to become the team’s third-best player after Bron and Anthony Davis.
Would Frank Vogel consider his candidacy for the starting line-up?
The Lakers head coach had earlier made it clear that the starting five will have Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. This leaves no place to accommodate the services of Kyle Kuzma in the first line-up. But is that a worry for Kuzma? It does not seem like that.
Kyle told reporters, “Every series is a chance for me to get better. My main job right now is to come in, bring energy and defend at a high level … just trying to be a dog out there.”
* @kylekuzma: "Every series is a chance for me to get better. My main job right now is to come in, bring energy and defend at a high level … just trying to be a dog out there."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) August 31, 2020
It is clear that the man has his eyes set on something bigger than just dropping points. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.4 rebs in the playoffs. His FG% of 36 was one of the worst in the NBA Playoffs 2020. But at the same time, his defense rating was 94.2 (second just after Alex Caruso in the Lakers). Notably, this performance came against Blazers who were very tight in their offense as they averaged 126 points per game in the bubble but came down to 106.6 in the post-season series.
This proves the strength that he adds to the Lakers’ defense and hence can prove to be a key player against the teams with high offensive ratings.
