Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma wants all the smoke.

Kuzma told Kyle Goon of the the Southern California News Group he welcomes the challenge of teams constantly going at him on the defensive end of the floor, saying he wants to guard the best players one-on-one and challenge himself:

“Every night there’s a team that tries to target you and pick on you,” Kyle Kuzma said last week, per Goon. “I really just invite that (expletive). I want to iso guard people. I take pride in it and I just invite those situations. As a competitor, I want people to try to score on me.”

This is hardly the first time Kyle Kuzma has spoken about his reputation as a lackluster defender. He was very vocal about said reputation earlier this month, even posting a defensive highlights package to his Twitter, feed.

The numbers appear to show the Lakers are a vastly improved defensive team with Kyle Kuzma on the court. Opponents have an offensive rating of 108.7 when Kuzma sits. But when he plays, that number falls to 104.4.

Kyle Kuzma's current defensive rating of 107 is a career-best, per Basketball Reference, and he appears to be more channeled on that end.

Los Angeles will need Kyle Kuzma to bring that energy and output each and every night with Anthony Davis likely to hit the shelf after “The Brow” aggravated an Achilles issue Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets.

But Kyle Kumza seems to relish in being the guy most often targeted by the masses. He wants to show he can excel in his role. Given the Lakers' roster situation right now, there's a big opportunity for Kuzma to leave an even bigger positive imprint on the Lake Show. Considering his performance in the 2020 season and especially the 2020 bubble playoffs, which left questions about his future, Kuzma can significantly rewrite how he is perceived.