LOS ANGELES – Twenty-six other teams could have had Kyle Kuzma. But coming out of Utah, he was an unknown commodity.
One of the teams that passed on Kuzma was Oklahoma City. When the 21st pick rolled around, Kuzma was still on the board waiting to hear his name.
The Thunder wound up drafting Terrance Ferguson instead. The 6-foot-7 guard/forward was best known for playing at Deion Sanders' prep academy and forgoing college to play overseas for a year.
Ferguson is averaging less than three points per game and spent the majority of the season in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue.
Kuzma, on the other hand, has been one of the biggest storylines of the first half of the season as he has become the central figure in the Lakers rebuilding process alongside No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball.
As a rookie, Kuzma leads the Lakers in scoring.
After only 37 games, it looked like a run-away route on who was going to have the better NBA career. Then a funny thing happened along the way. Ferguson was told he was going to start the first game of his NBA career Wednesday night against the Lakers.
For a half, that almost looked like a mistake. He went into halftime with 0 points and one assist. But, to his credit, he listened to the advice of his teammate Russell Westbrook.
“The thing that got me going, it was Russ,” Ferguson said. “Russ told me I don’t care if you miss 10 shots in a row, just keep shooting. This was in the first half. It really gave me the confidence to shoot the ball and just have fun with it.”
Shoot the ball is what Ferguson did as he scored all 24 of his points in the second half. He hit 9 of 12 shots, including going 6 of 9 from 3-point range as the Thunder rolled to a 133-96 victory.
“I already called my mom,” Ferguson said after the game. “I called her outside the locker room. Then I called my sister then my girlfriend. (My mom) was going crazy. She wouldn’t even let me talk. She was yelling the whole time.”
Besides the blistering perimeter shooting, Ferguson also added a pair of highlight reel dunks that sent his veteran teammates into a tizzy on the bench.
“When I dunked the ball, that’s when I looked over to the bench and saw them go crazy,” Ferguson said. “It’s pretty good seeing them having fun, enjoying the moment and getting the win.”
Ferguson got the start due to an injury to guard Andre Roberson. He didn’t find out about it until shoot-around Wednesday morning when coach Billy Donovan pulled him aside to give him the news.
“I was really happy for him,” Donovan said. “He’s worked really hard and I think he has a bright future. I’ve always been excited about Terrance. The other thing that was great was the rest of the team was happy for him.”
As much as Ferguson got a kick out of his special night, vets who have done amazing things in the league were just as excited.
“I think it’s important,” Westbrook said. “It creates a brotherhood. It shows that he has been working on his game and it gives confidence to other guys as well.”
Carmelo Anthony had the same type of reaction.
“There is nothing like that,” Anthony said of seeing a rookie perform well. “There is no better feeling than that. Knowing how much hard work those guys put in, knowing how hard it is to get minutes in this league. For Ferg to come out and play the way he played tonight, we take our hat off for that.”
Donovan said this is a good first step for Ferguson. With the way he works his lineups, there is no guarantee, Ferguson will get the same amount of opportunities when Roberson returns
However, for at least one night, a rookie from Tulsa, Oklahoma can lay claim to being the biggest star on one of the biggest stages in sports.
“It was like the ocean. Like me throwing a little pebble inside the ocean,” Ferguson said. “It felt good. Pretty good night.”