Brian Shaw, 14-year NBA veteran and 13-year NBA coach, had his hands full Tuesday morning.
The source of his troubles was rookie Kyle Kuzma, who was handily beating him in a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer competition during Lakers shootaround at Vivint Smart Home Arena, a hint of what was to come Tuesday night in a 26-point performance.
“One miss and this is over!” Kuzma shouted across the court. Sure enough, after Shaw missed a key 3-pointer, Kuzma proceeded to shoot five in a row, all at different spots around the arc, while sweeping past the veteran Lakers assistant. Lonzo Ball, who was rebounding, was ecstatic. Coach Luke Walton had some mock dismay.
Kuzma projected nothing but confidence.
“I’m never really surprised,” he told reporters right after winning the competition — all in good fun (and maybe for a little money). “It’s just who I am. I’m always confident. I always expect high expectations for myself.”
There are the stats: Kuzma has succeeded on the court, averaging 16 points and 6.3 rebounds and shooting 36.5 percent from 3-point range, outstripping the expectations of some of the more skeptical fans who thought he was declaring too early for the NBA out of Utah a year ago. But even more natural, it seems, has been how he’s slipped into being a Laker.
His on-court production has helped make him popular, launching a line of “Kuzmania” gear that he sells on his website. His pregame and postgame outfits are posted and parsed on NBA fashion Instagram circles — his fur coat in January generated interest among fans (and teasing from teammates). He’s been in commercials and videos and has been embraced by musicians and movie stars.
And he wears those roles as snugly as a pair of his custom-fit jeans.
“Look at him, how he dresses — he’s a Hollywood guy,” teammate Josh Hart said. “He always had that confidence and swagger about him.”
Hearing about the “Hollywood” label from Hart, one of the teammates with whom Kuzma engages in social media ribbing, Kuzma immediately called Hart a hypocrite for chartering a private plane to watch Villanova in the NCAA Finals. But he also acknowledged he’s blended well in L.A.
The difference for Walton, who played for the Lakers himself, is that Kuzma embraces his celebrity status but doesn’t let it get in the way of his work.
“I think he does a really nice job in not getting caught up in a lot of that,” Walton said. “He wants to play basketball. He wants to win. When we’re on the court, whether it’s practice, whether it’s two-on-two on kind of a light day, he’s going as hard as he can. When you have that kind of mindset and attitude, it pays off.”
That doesn’t mean the work is over. Walton described the upcoming offseason as an important one for Kuzma, and the Lakers will ask him to improve defensively. They’ll also work on his shooting formand ball-handling and refine his footwork.
Is Kuzma confident he can get all that done this summer? You can guess the answer to that one.
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