Kyle Kuzma wasn’t even in America when he found out about the blockbuster trade in which the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.
🇺🇸 @kylekuzma already getting buckets on day one of Team USA training camp!
(🎥: @NBA)pic.twitter.com/oTPZfr6CZ0
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 5, 2019
Kuzma is the last of the young Lakers’ core assembled by Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, and now, he will play alongside a couple of superstars.
“I don’t feel no pressure, but I believe that I am capable of being that superstar,” Kuzma told ESPN. “I put a lot of work in. My progress through my journey shows that I can be there. I developed every single year, dating back to college, and I don’t see that development stunting at all.
“Last year I didn’t shoot the ball well, and I still averaged almost 20 [points per game]. If I can shoot the ball well and keep developing the facets of my game defensively, I don’t see why I can’t [be that third star].”
At the moment, Kuzma is on the USA Basketball training camp roster, and the 24-year-old hopes to make the USA Team that will travel to FIBA World Cup in China. It’s a big summer ahead for the forward who averaged 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 2018-19.
Quick-twitch muscles firing! The resistance bands workouts are no joke @kylekuzma 🏋️♂️😤💪 #StriveForGreatness🚀 pic.twitter.com/K3b2hbTSzM
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) August 8, 2019