Despite the bad news that the Los Angeles Lakers announced on Thursday concerning forward Kyle Kuzma, the team’s general manager, Rob Pelinka, offered a more optimistic outlook on the situation.
He indicated that the team’s level of concern doesn’t involve a great deal of worrying.
Rob Pelinka on Kyle Kuzma’s injury: “We have a lot of hope about the progress Kyle has made. There’s a lot of optimism, not a whole lot of worry.” pic.twitter.com/7C7nBN20v3
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) September 27, 2019
The 24-year-old Kuzma suffered a stress fracture to his left foot last month when he was trying out for the Team USA squad that competed in the FIBA World Cup. During the team’s warmup contests in Australia, Kuzma left the team with what was described at the time as an ankle problem.
Pelinka’s apparently calm demeanor seems to indicate that the level of severity with Kuzma’s injury isn’t high. The fact that it happened one month before the start of training camp, instead of during it, has allowed the veteran to undergo a rehabilitation that isn’t being rushed to get him back on the court.
Kuzma’s injury was the second injury setback last month, but it pales in comparison to the ACL injury suffered by new acquisition DeMarcus Cousins. In that instance, Cousins is likely to miss the entire season, in contrast to Kuzma’s possible availability for the regular season opener on Oct. 22.
The contributions of Kuzma will be important over the course of the 2019-20 campaign, given Cousins’ absence and the lofty goals envisioned after the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis in June. Set to begin his third NBA season, Kuzma has career averages of 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
