Kuzma might debut in Dallas
Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma had a second straight good workout on Wednesday and will be monitored by the team after Thursday’s practice before a decision is made on whether he’ll play Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, according to people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Kuzma, who has been sidelined since August with a stress reaction in his left ankle, was assigned to the South Bay Lakers to practice with the team Wednesday.
Kuzma was going to rejoin the Lakers, who had Wednesday off, after the session with the South Bay Lakers.
The Lakers hope that Kuzma doesn’t have any setbacks before they leave for a three-game trip to Dallas, San Antonio and Chicago, and that the forward can play in one of those games.
Kuzma “had a good day” Tuesday during a three-on-three fullcourt session before the Lakers played the Memphis Grizzlies that night at Staples Center.
He averaged 18.7 points on 45.6% shooting, 30.3% from threepoint range, and 5.5 rebounds in 70 games last season.
James excels too
On a night when Anthony Davis put on a virtuoso performance at Staples Center, it was easy to overlook another masterpiece from LeBron James.
For James, Tuesday was about more than the 23 points and eight rebounds he produced in 28 minutes 19 seconds during the Lakers’ easy win over Memphis. It was also about how much he fun had on the bench interacting with the fans during the blowout and his involvement with the community during another fire in the Los Angeles area.
But like everyone else from the game, James was praising Davis after his 40-point and 20-rebound domination. Davis was the first Laker to get at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Shaquille O’Neal had 48 points and 20 rebounds against Boston on March 21, 2003. Davis was brilliant while playing with a sore right shoulder that didn’t seem to inhibit him one bit.
“I don’t even think he’s scratched the surface yet,” James said late Tuesday night. “I think we’re all still getting comfortable with one another. I think he’s still getting comfortable on the floor. But when he’s attacking like that, when a guy shoots high in the 80s, 90s, from the free-throw line, that’s easy money for him, and that’s great for our defense as well. It’s great for our team to settle a game down like that. So he was wonderful tonight, spectacular in all facets both offensively and defensively, and we needed it.”
James and his family evacuated their Brentwood home early Monday morning because of the Getty fire, and he sent a taco truck Tuesday
to first responders fighting the fire.
During the game, James danced while fans chanted “Taco Tuesday.”
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti responded to James’ gesture on Twitter, saying, “Thank you, @KingJames, for generously sending a taco truck to support our @LAFD firefighters, first responders, and partner agencies working to fight the #GettyFire.”
James explained his decision to send the taco truck.
“It was thought about early this [Tuesday] morning when I kind of woke up and knowing the situation that they’ve been going through the last few days, knowing today is ‘Taco Tuesday,’ knowing today is the anniversary of my first game (with Cleveland on Oct. 29, 2003) and we had another game tonight, so everything kind of lined up and was just giving my respect and understanding how important they are to this whole situation,” James said. “In order to be at your best, you have to have fuel. And food is a part of fuel. So tacos always wins.”