Kyle Kuzma
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Kyle Kuzma
Kuzma with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018
No. 0 – Los Angeles Lakers
Position Power forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born July 24, 1995 (age 25)
Flint, Michigan
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 221 lb (100 kg)
Career information
Bentley
High school
(Burton, Michigan)
Rise Academy
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College Utah (2014–2017)
NBA draft 2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 27th overall
Selected by the Brooklyn Nets
Playing career 2017–present
Career history
2017–present Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2018)
First-team All-Pac-12 (2017)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Kyle Alexander Kuzma (born July 24, 1995) is an American
professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball
Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and was named first-
team all-conference in the Pac-12 as a junior in 2016–17. He was selected with the 27th
overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017 NBA draft, but was traded to the Lakers on
draft night. Following his rookie season, Kuzma was named to the NBA All-Rookie First
Team.
Contents
1Early life
2College career
3Professional career
o 3.1Los Angeles Lakers (2017–present)
3.1.1Rookie season (2017–18)
3.1.22018–19 season
4Career statistics
o 4.1NBA
4.1.1Regular season
o 4.2College
5Awards and honors
6References
7External links
Early life
Raised in the Flint, Michigan, area, Kuzma is the son of Karri Kuzma, a high school shot
put champion who attended college on a track scholarship. He has a younger half-
brother named Andre and a younger half-sister named Briana. [1] Kuzma is biracial.
[2]
Kuzma met his father only once as an infant, but viewed the father of his half-siblings,
Larry Smith, as a father figure.[1] Karri Kuzma and Smith put a toy basketball rim in the
living room for Kyle when he was only two years old, thus igniting his passion for
basketball.[1][3][4]
Kuzma has described Flint as "'a really violent place [where] there's a lot of temptation
to get into the streets.'" However, Kuzma described basketball as his "'safe haven'".
[3]
Kuzma attended Swartz Creek Community Schools and transferred to Bentley High
School in Michigan, where he averaged 17.9 points, 14.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.4
blocks per game as a junior.[1] Kuzma sent tapes of his shooting at the YMCA to
preparatory schools; Vin Sparacio, head coach at Rise Academy in Philadelphia, saw a
6'6", 175-pound, raw player who had a great feel for the game, and immediately brought
him in.[4] As a high school senior at Rise Academy, Kuzma averaged 22 points and
seven rebounds per game.[1] Kuzma received offers to play with Division I schools
including Connecticut, Iowa State, Tennessee, and Missouri, among others, before
deciding on the University of Utah.[4]
College career
Kuzma enrolled at the University of Utah in 2013. He redshirted his freshman year due
to the fact that he signed late. He became a starter for the Utes in his sophomore year,
when he averaged 10.8 points per game.[5] As a junior in 2016–17, he averaged 16.4
points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, which earned him first-team All-Pac-
12 honors.[6] After the season, Kuzma decided to enter the 2017 NBA draft, foregoing his
final year of college basketball eligibility. Kuzma graduated from the University of Utah
with a degree in sociology.[7][1][8]
Professional career
Los Angeles Lakers (2017–present)
Rookie season (2017–18)
Kuzma was selected with the 27th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Brooklyn
Nets. In a draft-day trade, he was dealt along with Brook Lopez to the Los Angeles
Lakers in exchange for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.[9] Prior to the draft,
Kuzma had been projected to go in the second round. [10] On July 3, 2017, he signed his
rookie scale contract with the Lakers. [11]
