Getty LeBron James with Kyle Kuzma.
Apparently being the third-leading scorer in NBA history isn’t enough for Skip Bayless to accept the fact that LeBron James is one of the best scorers ever. Bayless is prone to giving the wildest takes on LeBron possible, but he somehow consistently figures out ways to outdo himself. His latest crazy theory came on Tuesday as he claimed that Kyle Kuzma is a better closer for the Los Angeles Lakers than both LeBron and Anthony Davis.
“Kyle Kuzma is the closer for this team but they won’t allow him to be. LeBron and AD do not click with Kuzma because he’s not in their clique, he’s not part of that group. But as great as they are, it’s not in AD/LeBron’s genetics to close games. I’ve not seen either one of them just take games over down the stretch where I say ‘that’s unstoppable.’ I have seen that from Kuzma, he is cold-blooded.”
While Kuzma has certainly shown elite scoring ability at times throughout his career, he has been very inconsistent. It seems like Bayless believes that has more to do with the fact that the Lakers don’t give him much of a chance to close games. Regardless of what Bayless thinks, obviously, LeBron has big-time closing ability in big games and he’s proven it in the past.
Kuzma Needs to Be More Consistent
The Lakers like Kuzma and they’d like to keep him. The problem is that he hasn’t shown any level of consistency this season. You don’t know if he’s going to give you 40 or five points on any given night. Considering Los Angeles has needs elsewhere, it’s no wonder they’ve been shopping him on the trade market.
Kuzma is far from a bad player and the sky’s the limit for his potential, but it needs to be remembered that he’s only two years younger than Anthony Davis. Yes, he’s been in the NBA for less time, but it remains to be seen how much room Kuzma has to grow.
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Kuzma ‘Brings Nothing to the Table When He Can’t Score,” Says Analyst
Outside of his inconsistency, Kuzma has also caught heat for how he brings little else to the team when he’s in a shooting slump. Shannon Sharpe on FOX Sports’ Undisputed ripped Kuzma for this fact.
“The biggest reason I think he’ll get traded is because he brings nothing else to the table when he can’t score,” Sharpe said. “He doesn’t D up, he doesn’t facilitate… His only asset, his only benefit to this team is to score. When he’s not scoring, what good is he?”
Kuzma has been involved in a number of trade talks this season and it seems like the Lakers are looking for ball handling help. Kuzma doesn’t really help the team in that regard, so it would make sense why the team is looking to move him. That said, it remains to be seen if Los Angeles will actually deal the young forward.
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