Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma is having himself a stellar rookie season. Kuz is coming off an excellent month of November as he put up 18.2 points and 6.7 rebounds to bring home Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors.

However, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons is having the more spectacular debut season, averaging 18 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 7.1 assists. Kuzma acknowledged Simmons’ strong play as he had some complimentary, though understated, words for his Rookie of the Month counterpart in the Eastern Conference.

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Despite Kuzma’s gross underselling of Simmons, it can’t be denied that the Sixers point guard has been the best rookie to date this season and by some margin. His emergence as a rising star this season has been a huge reason for the Sixers’ surprising 13-10 record. He is clearly the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year ahead of Kuzma, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell.

Simmons had a pretty good game against Kuzma and the Lakers in their first meeting a couple weeks ago. He had 18 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists, and five steals, though that was overshadowed by Joel Embiid’s monster 46-point, 15-rebound, seven-block performance.

Kuzma had 24 points and seven rebounds himself in that game and will be looking to return the favor on Simmons and the Sixers when they host the Lakers on Thursday.