Los Angeles Lakers second-year small forward Kyle Kuzma wasn't included in Sports Illustrated's top 100 players list and, according to President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson, Kuzma is not happy about it.

Kuzma averaged 16.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game during his rookie season. The 23-year-old shot 45.0 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from 3, and was named to the All-Rookie first team. Kuzma was 71st on ESPN’s top 100 list, but he doesn't care about that. He's more upset at Sports Illustrated's writers and is using that as motivation for the upcoming season.

“Kuz is a different guy,” Johnson said, via Silverscreenandroll.com. “Man, he got mad because he wasn’t in the top 100. So, I’m glad they didn’t put him in the top 100 so he can keep working hard. It’s that type of drive that we have from these players.”

There's a lot of intrigue surrounding the Lakers this season. The club signed the best player in the world, LeBron James, in free agency, along with Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, and JaVale McGee.

Many have questioned James’ move to the Lakers since the roster appears nowhere near ready to compete for a championship in the rugged Western Conference. Kyle Kuzma, however, believes everyone is sleeping on the squad.

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“A lot of people are underestimating us,” Kuzma told ESPN in August. “It is definitely going to be fun playing with all these new guys. A lot of people say we got a lot of different people, a lot of new people. But change can be a good thing. It is not necessarily always a bad thing. There’s a lot of teams in the NBA that need to work on their chemistry. We are just one of them.

“I don’t know why people kind of just rule us out because we are young. We are hungry. We are competitive. Anybody that watched us play last year, we were in a lot of games. Having one of the greatest players of all-time is going to raise what we do, raise our level of focus and the team to a higher level. I don’t really see why [there is a need to be] so patient.”

Kuzma and the Lakers will open their regular season schedule on Oct. 18 against the Portland Trail Blazers on the road.