It’s tough being a rookie in the NBA as the Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma is finding out this season. Rookies like him get roasted and given rookie duties such as wearing a fur-lined leather coat in the locker room, courtesy of veterans Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.
In the video below from Spectrum Sportsnet, Randle is seen putting the coat on Kuzma as he is about to be interviewed.
“Man, rookie duties right now,” Kuzma said.
“You see the pink right there? Let ‘em know right there. See the pink in his suit,” Clarkson interrupted him. “All for the ladies. When they get right in there they get real comfortable. That’s why he did it.”
The Lakers locker room may be full of fun and laughter, but Kuzma’s game is nothing to chuckle at.
The rookie from the University of Utah has been carrying this Lakers team on his back all season, leading them in scoring with 16.3 points a night, shooting 37.4 percent from the 3-point line. He is the prototypical power forward of today’s game, one who can play inside and out.
In a recent game against the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics, Kuzma scored 28 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers won 108-107 thanks to his late-game heroics.
As the 27th pick of the 2017 NBA Draft (chosen by Brooklyn but traded to the Lakers), Kuzma’s game is growing and he has overshadowed his more celebrated rookie teammate Lonzo Ball.
Clarkson and Randle can fool around with Kuzma in the locker room and off the court all they want, but when they all step on the court, they know who’s the boss.
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