Los Angeles Lakers rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma have a special connection on the court that could pay dividends for a team searching not just for young building blocks, but core players that fit together as the team moves forward.
Kuzma has already spoken about how the two built their bond from the second they played together during an offseason scrimmage. It continued to grow during Las Vegas Summer League, and before the Lakers take on the Celtics Wednesday, both players talked to Bill Oram of the O.C. Register about why they get along so well:
“Off the court, he’s a great person,” Ball said, “so on the court he’s going to play hard, so you put those two together it’s a great teammate. It started in summer league and it just picked up from there.”
Added Kuzma: “The goals that we each have are pretty similar. For me and him, we want to be great. On the court it’s yin and yang pretty much. We have the type of vibe that goes together.”
Kuzma and Ball certainly fit together perfectly on the court, where Kuzma’s shot-happy stylings, hustle and floor spacing ability mesh perfectly with Ball’s unselfish tendencies and desire to find teammates for open shots.
The fact that the two get along so well away from the floor has to be icing on the cake for the Lakers front office, which is surely hoping they can pair those two players alongside each other for years to come.
Ball and Kuzma’s games will both have to continue to grow and warrant that type of commitment from the Lakers moving forward, but the two are off to a great start, and if their games continue to gel, they might just be able to help each other get there.
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