The Los Angeles Lakers will officially be without forward Kyle Kuzma when the once heralded Western Conference franchise opens up its 2019-20 regular season on Tuesday evening.
With Kuzma already ruled out for the crosstown affair between the Lakers and rival Los Angeles Clippers, it appears as though the up-and-coming swingman is more than eager to return to the court sooner rather than later.
“Right now, we're just talking about ramping up his activity, and we're not going to look past two days from now,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel recently said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We're going to try to increase his workload and activities this week, and we'll see where we're at.”
Not only that, but Vogel added that Kuzma has been “impatient,” though he has remained on board with the team's plan for him going forward.
“There's a progression,” Vogel added. “He's on no-contact, half court now. I'm sure we'll build up to no-contact, full court with sprinting or potentially half court with contact. I'm not sure which direction they're going to take it next, but there will be a progression this week building him up.”
The Western Conference is absolutely stacked this season so the Lakers will certainly need Kuzma as healthy as possible for the long haul and simply cannot afford to rush him back prematurely.
“The main thing is just making sure I'm healthy and [ready to] go,” Kuzma said. “It's a long season, so [missing opening night] won't affect me mentally or anything.”
The Lakers and Clippers tip-off at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Follow Us
Subscribe