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When it comes to Los Angeles Lakers rookie forward Kyle Kuzma, there is no shortage of compliments to give the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. However, it has not always been that way in recent years, as Kuzma admits he was a major work in progress.
In an article written by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the 22-year-old Kuzma opened up about his life as a basketball player growing up in Flint, Mich.
“In high school, AAU, even prep school, I didn't really know how to play basketball,” Kuzma said. “It was kind of like, ‘Let's throw the balls out, go get buckets, just score and go play.' Once I got to college, I didn't know defensive rotations, my footwork was sloppy. I used to travel every other play.”
A person who played a large role in Kuzma's development as a basketball player was one of his high school coaches in 67-year-old Earl Jordan, who has been working with kids in Flint for over four decades.
“I got Kyle when he was a sophomore,” Jordan said. “He was about 6-4 then. Skinny kid. And he could shoot the ball. His dribbling needed work, but he had a good idea of what he needed to do. So I talked to his mom and said, ‘Look, let me work with him. I can help him. Bring him over here and I can help him.'”
Jordan runs a basketball camp every summer in Flint and in June of 2018, it will be the camp's 25th anniversary of operation. According to Kuzma, coach Jordan played a huge role in the significant improvement of his post moves before he headed off to college at the University of Utah.
“We worked every day, all summer on the same moves. Post moves. The same post moves every day, all day. It got kind of boring at times,” Kuzma said with a laugh.
Kuzma is currently third among all rookies in scoring (14.9 points per game), fourth in rebounding (6.8 boards per game) and starting alongside rising star point guard Lonzo Ball in head coach Luke Walton's lineup.
The Lakers will have their hands full tonight when they take on another team with a substantial amount of young talent in the Philadelphia 76ers at Staples Center, so NBA fans should grab some popcorn and anticipate a highly-entertaining matchup.
