Getty Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers during a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
While long rumored a deal was in the making, Puma finally made their partnership with Kyle Kuzma official as he was brought on to be the face of the shoe company moving forward. Puma has aggressively gone after exciting young talent since making their foray back into the basketball market last year. They add Kuzma to a roster that consists of Lakers teammates Danny Green and Demarcus Cousins alongside young up and comers like Marvin Bagley, Deandre Ayton, RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, and many more.
Puma Unveils Kyle Kuzma Mural to Celebrate Shoe Deal
https://twitter.com/kylekuzma/status/1179469759613505536/photo/1
To commemorate the deal, Puma moved quickly and got the mural up within hours. Kuzma tossed up a picture to commemorate his big day, however, the deal and mural have been far from Kuzma’s only notable moments in the now infamous Summer of Kuz.
Kuzma started things off by serving as the Lakers’ representative at the NBA Draft Lottery (which feels like a lifetime ago) and was the good luck charm that helped the Lakers jump all the way up to the fourth pick in the draft. That pick eventually would go on to help the Lakers land Anthony Davis.
The Anthony Davis trade put the young forward in headlines yet again as Kuzma was the only member of the Lakers’ young core to NOT be traded for Davis.
Kuzma would go on to steal the show at USA Basketball camp while healthy and was widely expected to play a large scoring role for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup. Showing off an improved deep ball and sharpened defensive chops, Kuzma gave fans a glimpse into just how good he could become before the nagging foot injury forced him out.
All in all, the summer of 2019 has been an eventful one for Kuzma and should be prove to be healthy before the start of the season, he might just parlay his hot stretch into a hot year.
Kyle Kuzma Injury Update
LAL release: Kyle Kuzma is progressing with his rehabilitation from an injury (stress reaction, left foot) that occurred while he was with USA Basketball. He has not been cleared for full practice or game participation. He is scheduled for an MRI when the team returns from China.
Kuzma is not going to be making an appearance when the team plays its preseason games in China in just a few days’ time. Diagnosed with a stress reaction in his foot (the same issue that kept Lakers’ rookie Talen Horton-Tucker out of Summer League), the injury doesn’t seem to be too serious, mainly due to the fact that it was caught before anything could get worse.
Kuzma seems hopeful to return to the team once they’re back stateside, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lakers opt to hold him out a bit longer just to be safe and avoid the risk of reinjury.
Ideally, the Lakers would like to work Kuzma back into the mix well before the start of the season as his presence on the court is invaluable when helping to build chemistry among so many new teammates. Kuzma’s role shouldn’t be in question but his ability to function as the versatile scoring weapon the Lakers need him to be is largely dependent on his ability to understand and read his teammates – something he needs to actually spend time on the court working on.
While the injury shouldn’t hamper Kuzma in the long run, it could have an big impact on his early-season performance should he find his timeline pushed back any further.