I already hold an odd form of nostalgia for this past offseason’s Summer League and preseason, when you couldn’t walk five steps without hearing yet another Lakers fanperson extolling the virtues of the Lakers rookies, of Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball. Grand proclamations of glory flooding social media, previously unwatched basketball becoming must-see TV. There was excitement in the air.
Now, there’s still something there, but it’s a shadow of what it was. Kuzma is actually doing quite well in games against real NBA competition, but there is no longer any great jubilation over his play. It’s become expected, and the attention, as it always does, has shifted towards any player who could become the next big thing, in the absence of any evidence.
Even I find my gaze drawn elsewhere. When is Thomas Bryant going to have a good game? Why is Ivica Zubac getting held down? There are many Lakers players who I would enjoy 27 points from more than Kuzma, and that’s not his fault. It’s my fault. It’s all our faults.