Kyle Kuzma Confident To Be The Third Superstar For The Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers had a terrible roster last season. Adding LeBron James wasn’t enough for the franchise, and the young core struggled a lot. Kyle Kuzma had his own struggles, too.

The Lakers risked a lot by choosing Kuzma, but he is here. He will have to give his best and improve his game on the field. Kuzma told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN that he is ready to give his best shot.

“I don’t feel no pressure, but I believe that I am capable of being that superstar,” Kuzma told ESPN. “I put a lot of work in. My progress through my journey shows that I can be there. I developed every single year, dating back to college, and I don’t see that development stunting at all.”

Kuzma is well aware of the mistakes he made as a Laker last year.

“Last year I didn’t shoot the ball well, and I still averaged almost 20 [points per game]. If I can shoot the ball well and keep developing the facets of my game defensively, I don’t see why I can’t [be that third star].”

The Lakers missed the playoffs, and that was the last scenario Kuzma could’ve think of. He wanted more, but also knew that he couldn’t give more. Sort of.

“I wouldn’t imagine not making the playoffs (at the beginning of the season),” Kuzma said when asked about the playoffs. “We got derailed by a lot of injuries, and that pretty much sums up our season. At one point we were holding our heads high, in a great position, and that bug just came in and hurt us. Just continue to get better, every single day. Put the work in and over the years accumulate all the work and just get better. I think I’ve done a pretty good job developing so far, but the good thing is there’s always room for growth.”

LeBron James joined a team with poor chemistry and a bunch of young players. But, he was really positive about it.

“He’s not allowing anybody to put a cap on him and saying he’s just a scorer, I think he wants to be more than that,” he said of Kuzma. “He’s continuing to get better and better, not just offensively but defensively. He’s just playing all-round solid basketball. His ability to make plays, his ability to rebound as of late, obviously we know how well he can score, but he wants to make more of an impact not just for himself but for the team.

“It started as soon as I signed, he was the first guy to call me off the team. It actually started before that, we’d been talking when I was in Cleveland, he wanted to pick my brain, talk about how he could get better. We’ve had that mutual respect and I saw how talented he was playing him twice last year and watching him the late games when I was in the Eastern Conference. Our relationship on the floor is getting better and better, if he moves I’m going to find him I’m always looking for him and he knows that.”