LOS ANGELES — Kyle Kuzma left the floor during the fourth quarter as the Lakers were putting the finishing touches on a dominant win over the Washington Wizards, and after the game, head coach Frank Vogel said X-Rays on Kuzma’s left ankle were negative, and that Kuzma has a mild left ankle sprain and will be day-to-day moving forward.
“He probably could have stayed in there if we needed him to. He was favoring it a little bit and with a big lead, again, similar to the situation with his eye, we used better judgement and got him out,” Vogel said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
This is just the latest in a growing list of injuries Kuzma has dealt with this season. In addition to the eye abrasion Vogel mentioned — which Kuzma suffered just 10 days ago — Kuzma also began the year sitting out due to a stress reaction in his foot that he suffered during his time with Team USA in July.
Kuzma finished the game with 4 points on 2-7 shooting in 17 minutes of playing time. He is averaging 12.3 points per game and shooting 46.7% from the floor and 36.2% from behind the arc in 14 games this season. Still, he seemed to be just starting to acclimate to a new role on this team, and while clearly the 17-2 Lakers are doing all right and can afford to lose Kuzma for a game or two if necessary to get him healthy, this roster will need Kuzma fully integrated to the team and reaching his own potential if they’re all to reach theirs as a collective group.
Thankfully for the Lakers, this doesn’t sound too serious, and it’s likely we’ll receive an update on Kuzma — and injured guard Avery Bradley — at practice on Saturday. Stay tuned.