Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York City, had recently uploaded a video directed at Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, for allegedly being responsible for over 73,000 deaths in his region. Kyle Kuzma, the NBA veteran who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, saw this on social media and decided to express his opinions on the mayor’s take.
“This is 2026. People cosplaying as things they don’t have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be. Just for content. A mayor playing president. A founder playing operator. A content creator playing one-on-one thinking he’s a pro. A 25yr old with a ring light playing economist. Everyone auditioning. Nobody building.”
“We’re raising a generation that learns the reward isn’t in doing the thing; it’s in looking like you did the thing. The clip is the career. The pose is the product. The soundbite is the substitute for a life’s work. Don’t fall for distractions,” he wrote.
Kyle Kuzma seems to have been thrown off by the style in which Mamdani decided to convey his message, which looked to him like a revised setup of when the President addresses the nation.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026
He seems to feel that, despite Mamdani not effectively having the authority to do much about the conflict, he will apparently get the credit if things go right just because he was able to portray the narrative in his favor and make it look like he did something.
Naturally, a lot of Mamdani’s supporters called out Kuzma for trying to downplay the humanitarian message from the mayor. Kuzma decided to fire back at some critics as well.
“X is for conversation, and in today’s age, you cannot have a conversation without being attacked if people don’t agree with what you are saying. Exactly, problems in society, or at least here on X, are cooked,” wrote Kyle Kuzma.
“But somehow, I am a Zionist because I’m pointing out things that are happening in front of everyone’s face, but hey, that’s okay. Let’s keep opening up soccer fields.”
Kuzma’s criticism of Mamdani’s viral video generated a lot of discussion on the internet, with both positive and negative reactions. The Bucks forward defended his remarks and addressed those who questioned his viewpoint, even though many users disagreed with his position.
“All my tweets are AI-sourced from ChatGPT, guys. You got me. Let me just shut up and dribble 🫠🫠🫠,” Kuzma further mocked his critics.
“Yeah bro, I have so much privilege. I grew up with nepotism and a billionaire family. I have no idea what it’s like to grow up poor,” he wrote sarcastically.
People began missing his point altogether, which is to urge more action than just making speeches about it. However, Kuzma was wrong to imply that Zohran Mamdani has done nothing to help resolve the conflict. For example, Mamdani reportedly revoked all pro-Israel executive orders within 48 hours of becoming the Mayor in January.
Kyle Kuzma’s claim, ‘let’s keep opening up soccer fields,’ indicates that he feels whatever Mamdani has done so far has been insignificant in the big picture. He thinks it should become the main topic of discussion, guaranteeing that the discussion would go far beyond the initial post.
And while his intentions are not wrong, the implication that Mayor Mamdani is trying to hog credit seems to have left a sour taste in the mouths of his supporters.
