Kyle Kuzma put a dagger in the hearts of every Cleveland Cavaliers fan, hitting a game-winning three-pointer with ten seconds left in the fourth quarter to push the Wizards past the Cavs 97-94 on Wednesday night.
Kuzma had a great night, dropping 22 points and grabbing five boards to help push Washington to an impressive 8-3 start. Kuzma also had some time to do a little bit of trash-talking when he saw a Cavs fan holding a sign that read, "LeBron won Kuzma his ring." After the game, Kuzma addressed the situation to reporters saying the jeers from the crowd was just added motivation for him on the floor and threw in his own bit of shade at the city of Cleveland.
"There were some hecklers during the game talking to me," Kuzma said. "... They had a sign that said 'LeBron won Kuzma his ring.' I said 'without LeBron, Cleveland wouldn't be sh--.' They choose violence, I just kept going. They were talking too much. Unnecessary."
To be fair, both the fan and Kuzma have a point. The Cavs obviously wouldn’t have won an NBA championship without the help of King James, but you can surely say the same about Kuzma—who was on the roster of the Lakers 2020 bubble championship run, despite surviving numerous trade rumors.
Kuzma isn’t the first and surely won’t be the last player to rip on Cleveland. Back in 2013, former Bulls star Joakim Noah famously ranted in a press conference about how much Cleveland ‘sucks.’
Kuz, being a good sport, went ahead and signed the heckler’s sign after the game.
The Wizards are one of the biggest surprises so far this season. They currently sit at the top of the Eastern Conference and have been getting contributions from everyone on the roster. The Wizards will obviously need to keep this up if they want to keep pace with the likes of the Bucks or Nets in what has become a competitive conference. Another key focus will be keeping their star Bradley Beal from jumping ship—but things look very promising so far.
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