It has been a wild ride in Washington over the past few years. Going from John Wall to Russell Westbrook to Kyle Kuzma and Spencer Dinwiddie is certainly a rude awakening and not exactly what fans had hoped for when the Bradley Beal era was in its infancy.
It’s understandable that many Wizards loyalists would be fed up with the mediocrity that has radiated from the team over the past decade or so.
Still, it’s no reason to belittle players on a public stage.
Unfortunately, one fan was recently caught crossing that line during a season ticket event in D.C. The fan, who was recording, booed Kuzma while he was on stage, calling him “too arrogant.”
A Wizard fan disrespecting an NBA champion. Laughable. https://t.co/oz1ApJlz53
— O’Shea Jackson Jr (@OsheaJacksonJr) October 8, 2021
Kuzma, 26, was selected 27th in the 2017 NBA Draft. To start, expectations were relatively low for Kuz, as his name and game were still mostly unknown.
After an electric and surprising rookie campaign in L.A., in which he averaged over 16 points per game, he began to build a name for himself as a vital member of the Lakers’ young core.
Eventually, things in Los Angeles fell apart, likely due to a mixture of Kuzma’s slow development and a team that (with the arrival of LeBron James and Anthony Davis) outgrew his services.
He was sent to the Wizards in 2021, as part of the deal that sent Russell Westbrook to the Lakers. While some might see the move as a downgrade, Kuz views it as an opportunity to jumpstart his career.
“For me, wanting to get traded, and be in a type of situation where I can really spread my wings and develop a certain type of trajectory that I was on prior.”
Clearly, some fans aren’t sold on the kid yet and they’re not afraid to make their feelings known. If Kuzma wants to earn the trust of the community, he’s going to have to prove he’s more than the guy we saw in L.A.
