The rule in the NBA is what goes around comes back around. It might take some time, but whatever you do, it might come back to haunt you. Washington Wizards’ forward Kyle Kuzma learned that the hard way. When you trash other franchises, you might be on the wrong side of the joke sometime later.
Kyle Kuzma Learns Trash Talking Lesson
Last year, the Detroit Pistons had to wait until February to win their seventh game. They had the worst record in the league and tied the Philadelphia 76ers for the longest-ever losing streak with 28 straight losses. Their streak was the longest in a single season, while the 76ers lost 28 consecutive games across two seasons.
Kyle Kuzma was one of the players to poke fun at the Pistons, posting on Twitter screenshots of their games.
At this point its like “dont be that team” 🤣 https://t.co/qmWMgPt9Jz
— kuz (@kylekuzma) December 29, 2023
This Sunday, the Pistons won their seventh game of the season and are the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Wizards, on the other hand, have a 2-10 record and are tied for the second-worst team in the East.
To make matters worse, the Pistons’ seventh win came against the Wizards, a game in which Kuzma was the starter. To be fair, he had one of the better games of the season, scoring 22 points on 10-14 shooting. However, Kuzma was -22 for the game.
The Pistons Love Playing against Washington
This was not the only game in which the Pistons took things personal against Kuzma. Here is a fun fact. Two-and-a-half weeks after Kuzma’s initial post on Twitter, the Pistons defeated the Wizards 129-117. In that game, Kuzma had 21 points. This time, the Pistons decided to take things further up a notch. After the win, the Pistons’ official Twitter profile poked fun at Kuzma. As they say around the league, people keep receipts.
*don’t say it*
*don’t say it*
*don’t say it*
*sighs*at this point it’s like “dont be that team” pic.twitter.com/CYalV3254p
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 18, 2024
Kuzma Admits His Mistake
Following the game, a reporter asked Kuzma about the string of tough consecutive losses and how he feels about the team’s competitiveness. To that, Kuz replied,
“Not good, not good. You lose by 20 every night, that tells you you’re not competitive.”
Is Kyle Kuzma on the Trading Block?
Kuzma is in his fourth year with the Washington Wizards. After being the team’s leading scorer last year, his production has taken a dip this year. His numbers are down across the board, scoring only 17.9 points per game on 40% shooting and an abysmal 28.9% from behind the arc. To make matters worse, he is averaging 3.4 turnovers per game, the most in his career. Simply put, Kuzma is not playing well, and the team is awful.
We cannot say his trade value will go up, and the Wizards seem to have decided on a rebuilding path. Trading Kuzma will bring an asset or two back and allow the team to give more playing time to young players like Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, and Carlton ‘Bub’ Carrington. Kuzma still has some value for a contending team in need of depth on its bench.
