“I Don’t Play Basketball for That Sh*t…You’re Gonna Fall in Line”: Former Lakers Star Hints LeBron James Had Him Intimidated by His “Excellence” Despite Having the Numbers

NBA superstar LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have the best of seasons last year. After the acquisition of Russell Westbrook, hopes were high. However, the Lakers failed to clinch a playoff spot.

Throughout the season, the triple-double maestro struggled. The decision to go for Westbrook by giving away their young core has been questioned by the fans multiple times. The Lakers gave up Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, and the draft rights to Isaiah Jackson to land Westbrook. They also received three future second-round picks from the Washington Wizards.

Recently, Kyle Kuzma talked about his time with LeBron James and the Lakers during a chat with ‘The Volume Sports’. During the show, Kuzma said that he averaged close to 19 points and 5 rebounds in his second year in the NBA. He said that is a lot for second-year players, however, he doesn’t play for that.

Kyle Kuzma talks about the effects of LeBron James

Kuzma was part of the 2020 title-winning Lakers team and knows what it takes to play alongside LeBron James. Kuzma said, “But I don’t play basketball for that s**t. I play basketball to win and win games. And whatever role I got trusted with, #1. I’m gonna do it. Because #1 I’m in a LeBron James team. Let’s keep it 100 right now. You are in that team, you see that man being a professional. Like, you gonna fall in line because there’s certain excellence, standards. And you don’t wanna let somebody down that cares so much about winning…” 

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Looking at James’ excellence and his thirst for winning, Kuzma didn’t mind taking a backseat. His numbers went down a bit after the arrival of James, however, he was not worried about that, as he said. Because he wanted to win the NBA championship more than anything. And the arrival of James and Anthony Davis helped that cause.

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So far, Kuzma has been one of the few to benefit from the whole trade fiasco involving Westbrook. In his first year with the Wizards, his numbers are getting better again. He averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. He also recorded his first ever triple-double last year in a win against the Brooklyn Nets.

Similar to the Lakers, the Wizards didn’t make the playoffs last year. However, superstars Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis didn’t play a lot last season. So they will be hoping this year will be different and they can clinch a playoff spot. 

Do you think the Lakers should not have traded for Russell Westbrook? Let us know in the comments.