Kyle Kuzma

At 28 years old, Kyle Kuzma has this physical status:

Kyle Alexander Kuzma (born July 24, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He grew up in Flint, Michigan, and attended the University of Utah, where he played college basketball for the Utah Utes.

Kuzma was ranked first-team all-conference in the Pac-12 as a freshman in 2016-17.

In the 2017 NBA draft, he was the 27th overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets, but the Lakers were cut on draft night.

Kuzma was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team after his rookie season.

Early life

Kuzma, a high school shot put champion who attended college on a track scholarship, was born in the Flint, Michigan area. Andre's younger half-brother and Briana's younger half-sister are among him. Kuzma is biracial. Kuzma visited his father only as an infant, but Larry Smith, his half-siblings' father, was regarded as a father figure. When Kyle was only two years old, Karri Kuzma and Smith installed a toy basketball rim in his living room, reigniting his passion for basketball.

"Frankle is a very crowded place [where] there's a lot of temptation to get into the streets," Kuzma says. However, Kuzma referred to basketball as his "secure haven." Kuzma graduated from Swartz Creek Community Schools and moved to Bentley High School in Michigan, where he averaged 17.9 points, 14.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.4 blocks per game as a junior. Kuzma sent tapes of his shooting at the YMCA to preparatory schools; Vin Sparacio, head coach at Rise Academy in Philadelphia, saw a 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 175 lb (79 kilograms), raw player with a keen eye for the game and rushed him in. Kuzma averaged 22 points and seven rebounds per game as a high school senior at Rise Academy. Kuzma accepted offers from Division I colleges, including Connecticut, Iowa State, Tennessee, and Missouri, among other things, before deciding on the University of Utah.

Personal life

Since 2020, Kuzma has been in a friendship with Canadian model Winnie Harlow.

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College career

Kuzma joined the University of Utah in 2013. Due to the fact that he signed late, he redshirted his freshman year. In his sophomore season, he was a starter for the Utes, scoring 10.8 points per game. He averaged 16.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game as a junior in 2016, earning him first-team All-Pac-12 honors. Kuzma decided to draft in 2017, foregoing his last year of college basketball eligibility after the season. Kuzma earned a degree in sociology from the University of Utah.

Professional career

Kuzma was selected with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets. He was traded with Brook Lopez to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov, which was in a draft-day trade. Kuzma had been forecast to enter in the second round prior to the draft. He signed his rookie scale with the Lakers on July 3, 2017.

Kuzma led the team in points scored during seven games he played for the Lakers in the 2017 NBA Summer League, starting in six of the games) and was an ever present presence on the field. He had averages of 21.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.2 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game when he was selected to the All-Summer League Second Team that year. In a 98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in the championship match, he was also named the Summer League Championship Game MVP after a double-double of 30 points and ten rebounds.

In a 124-112 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, he notched his first double-double, with 21 points and 13 rebounds in his first game as a starter. In a 122-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns on November 17, he had another double-double by scoring 30 points, along with ten rebounds. Kuzma was named Rookie of the Month for games played in October/November. He averaged a team-high 16.7 points in 20 games, with 50.4 percent on the overall and a team-leading 37.9 percent on three-point field goals. In his first 20 games, he was the first NBA rookie to score at least 330 points, 120 rebounds, and 30 made three-pointers. In the first month of his career, he was also the sixth non-lottery pick to win the award. In a 122-116 victory over Houston over December 20, he scored a career-high 38 points on 70% shooting, snapping the Rockets' 14-game winning streak. In the following game, he had a team-high 27 points in his 113-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first Lakers rookie to score more points in three straight games. During the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend, he competed in the Rising Stars Challenge, and he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team at the end of the season.

In a 143–142 overtime loss, Kuzma scored a season-high 37 points against the San Antonio Spurs on October 22, 2018. In a 113–100 win, he scored a career-high 41 points against the Detroit Pistons on January 9, 2019. After scoring a game-high 35 points, he was selected again for the Rising Stars game and was named MVP.

Kuzma led the Lakers to a 124–121 victory over the Denver Nuggets on August 10, 2020, on his 25th birthday. In a 115–104 loss to the Miami Heat in the postseason, he scored a career-high 19 points in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. With their 17th NBA championship, the Lakers tied the league high in a series 4–2. Kuzma decided to commit three-years, $40 million with the Lakers on December 21, 2020.

Kuzma was traded to the Washington Wizards as part of Russell Westbrook's package on August 6, 2021. Kuzma won by four three pointers in the fourth quarter of a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 10, 2021, with two others in the final 30 seconds boosting the Wizards to a 97-94 victory. Kuzma's career began in January 2022 with seven straight games with 20+ points, the longest in his career. Kuzma won by 113–112 over the Brooklyn Nets on February 10, 2022, scoring 15 points and giving 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

He finished the season with 17.1 points per game.

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