While providing daily updates on LeBron James and Rajon Rondo has become commonplace for Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton in recent weeks, he revealed Wednesday that Kyle Kuzma exited practice early to receive treatment on his hip.
Kuzma participated in Thursday’s shootaround and was said to be moving well. However, he struggled against the Minnesota Timberwolves, missing his first five shots and at times moving gingerly.
Several of Kuzma’s misses were short, which suggested his hip remained an issue. “He didn’t look right to me. He didn’t look like he was moving right,” Walton said after the Lakers’ loss.
“He truly loves to compete, and I felt like, my gut was that he wasn’t able to do what he wanted to do. He said he felt fine and he could play, but he didn’t look like his normal self.”
Not one to make excuses for his play, Kuzma revealed more details of his injury. “I’ve just been dealing with a hip strain since [the] Houston [Rockets game]. Just trying to get a lot of treatment on it, nonstop, but it’s been getting a little worse,” he said.
Kuzma explained the strain impacted his ability to make various movements on the court and get into defensive positioning. He intends to spend the next two days receiving treatment in effort to improve for Sunday’s game with the Phoenix Suns.
“I just don’t like to sit out games,” Kuzma said. “But it’s a little bit of give and take. I’m a little hard-headed sometimes.”
Kuzma previously missed 2.5 games because of a lower back contusion.
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