Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma is in the midst of a tremendous bounce-back year.
Kuzma is currently averaging 15 points per game on the best three-point shooting percentage of his career along with 9.2 rebounds per outing, also a career best. If those individual marks weren’t enough, his Wizards sit atop the Eastern Conference with a 9-3 mark.
As a result of his early success, Kuzma is feeling himself. Which explains why he decided to wade into a conflict between NBA legends Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan.
Earlier this week, Pippen took aim at his former teammate and the impact he had on the sport of basketball.
“I may go as far to say Mike ruined basketball,” Pippen wrote in his book, Unguarded. “In the 80s on the playgrounds you’d have everyone moving the ball around — passing to help the team. That stopped in the 90s. Kids wanted to be ‘Like Mike.’
“Well, Mike didn’t want to pass — didn’t want to rebound, or defend the best player. He wanted everything done for him. That’s why I always believed LeBron James was the greatest player this game has ever seen — he does everything and embodies what the game is truly about.”
Kuzma responded to this message on Instagram:
“This energy not it for the sport,” he wrote.
It’s hard to argue with Kuzma. Pippen’s commentary on everything from Jordan to Larsa Pippen cheating on him has made a lot of folks deeply uncomfortable.
All that being said, Pippen seems intent on telling his version of events. So it’s unlikely he’ll pipe down any time soon.
As for Kuzma, he also likely won’t stop being bold any time soon. Between his interesting take on playing with the Lakers and blunt assessment of how LA looks without him, he has quietly made a habit of keeping it very real.
Scottie Pippen kept it real on Larsa. https://t.co/yRYNac03ry
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 11, 2021
In that respect, him opting to weigh in on Pippen’s commentary actually isn’t as surprising as it may originally appear.
Related: Steve Kerr’s Blunt Response To Alex Caruso Leaving Lakers
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
