The Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards completed their blockbuster trade this past week, exchanging Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma and the draft rights to Isaiah Jackson for Russell Westbrook and three future second-round draft picks.
For the sake of making salaries work in this deal, Kuzma was a necessity. His roughly $3 million contract from the 2020-21 season becomes $13 million for the 2021-22 season.
Kuzma was the Lakers’ longest tenured player prior to being shipped off, so obviously him getting dealt ended up being something of a big deal.
On Saturday, in honor of switching teams, Kuzma held a Q&A on Twitter. There he was asked about who his favorite Lakers teammate was.
The answer was a bit surprising:
Duds and it’s not even close. https://t.co/5t8DRv9YsQ
— kuz (@kylekuzma) August 8, 2021
The fact that it was Jared Dudley, and not LeBron James, caught some people off guard.
Kuzma and James have had something of an interesting relationship. The pair have had some fairly uncomfortable public moments, leading to talk of them not being big fans of each other.
Additional fuel was thrown into the fire a few days ago, when shortly after being traded, Kuzma very publicly changed his pick for who the GOAT is.
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 7, 2021
That said, James did make it a point to send Kuzma away with a special parting gift. Take from that what you will.
How close were Kuzma and James during their time in LA together? The true answer may never emerge, but it seems like everyone has a theory of their own.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
