One of the biggest off-the-court NBA stories over the past couple of days has involved former Los Angeles Lakers player Kyle Kuzma. The current Washington Wizards forward has been involved in a back-and-forth with former teammate and current Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie that eventually brought up another former Lakers player in Rick Fox.
The issue originally began when Kuzma responded to Dinwiddie, then a member of the Dallas Mavericks, saying the Wizards don’t play winning basketball by saying his team didn’t either. Things died down, but on Thursday, Dinwiddie was asked about the issues between them and said that if Kuzma was the third-best player on a championship team then the Lakers wouldn’t have traded him. Kuzma responded with a barrage of tweets insulting Dinwiddie on a wide range of issues.
In response to that, Dinwiddie would compare Kuzma to Rick Fox, but not in a positive way. The Nets guard said that Kuzma was fortunate to be in a great situation and didn’t lead the Lakers, but rather was carried to one just like, in his eyes at least, Fox was in the early 2000s, via Clutch Points:
"Some people are blessed to be in situations. We don't get mad at Rick Fox for winning a championship with Kobe and Shaq. Some people are blessed, but we can't act like Rick Fox led them to a championship."
Spencer Dinwiddie on Kyle Kuzma
(via @SNYNets)pic.twitter.com/vF5ZMigZoh
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 13, 2023
This, of course, didn’t sit well with Fox himself, who responded with a tweet of his own featuring a picture of himself alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, adding that he was a captain on each of those championship teams from 2000 to 2002 and did in fact ‘lead’ the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe:
Hello @SDinwiddie_25 #NiceToMeetYou Thanks for the introduction @ClutchPointsApp ~ this is a photo of the 3 Captains that @PhilJackson11 chose to lead his @Lakers Teams to Back2Back2Back Championships ~Who is @RickFox? I AM #TheOther #TheEnforcer
KEYS:#DefenseWinsChampionships pic.twitter.com/QdOBPOKeYQ— Rick Fox (@RickFox) April 14, 2023
While this has been an extremely entertaining feud, Dinwiddie has not come out looking the best on the other side of this. Maybe most ironic thing about this is that Dinwiddie is also a role player in this league and not someone anybody views as a first or second option on a championship team.
With the playoffs about to start and Dinwiddie and the Nets set to begin their first round series with the Philadelphia 76ers, it would be wise for him to simply focus on that and not Kuzma, Fox or any other former Lakers.
Fox’s response was perfect though, and Lakers fans were quick to come to his defense on the internet.
Lakers expected to pick up team option on Jarred Vanderbilt for 2023-24 season
As far as the current Lakers go, one of their most important role players is versatile defensive forward Jarred Vanderbilt. Since being acquired at the trade deadline, Vanderbilt has become a fixture in the Lakers starting lineup taking on the opposition’s toughest offensive matchup on a nightly basis.
Vanderbilt has a $4.7 million team option for next season and to the surprise of no one, the Lakers are expected to exercise that option and keep him around. While his numbers don’t jump off the page, Vanderbilt is a valuable piece that brings so much versatility on the defensive side of the court.
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