It can't be all just fun and games for the Purple and Gold. The Los Angeles Lakers' rookie duo of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma (along with Jason Hart) have been vocal and passionate with regards to their obsession of the open-world video game Fortnite that has caught the gaming world (and NBA) by storm.
But by the end of the day, it is all about the game of basketball – and given the storied winning tradition of the Lakers, they eventually have to turn it around and go back to winning. While the team failed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight year (their third without former franchise cornerstone Kobe Bryant), it is still worth noting that they finished with a 35-47 slate – a considerable improvement over last season's 26-56 and the even more woeful 17-65 before that.
The trajectory is clearly trending up for the Lake Show and is consistent with Ball and Kuzma's shared aspirations of MVPs (don't ask me how that works) and championships, according to Lakers beat reporter Mike Trudell.
“Just getting championships. That’s what it’s always been about for me, winning, and him as well. He wants to be MVP, like anybody would want to be MVP, but our common goal is to win a championship. We know we gotta put in work and stay together to do that. So, that’s how everything started.”
The pair is guaranteed to be part of the Lakers for the next few years given their rookie scale contracts as well as ever-improving sophomore Ingram, although the fate of defensive ace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and (most importantly) their leading scorer, Julius Randle, is still up in the air – complicating their playoffs push.
Nonetheless, it's refreshing to hear the two converse about basketball for a change.
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