During a recent postgame interview, a news station in Cleveland poked some fun at the expense of Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma.
Behind four 3-pointers from Kuzma in the fourth quarter, the Wizards had a big win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 10. During the game, hecklers had a sign that said: “Without LeBron, Kuzma wouldn’t have a ring.”
Kuzma has since said that the opposing fans were his motivation for the big fourth-quarter performance he had during the game against the Cavs. But the innocuous feud with the fanbase was only beginning.
This Cleveland news station really went there on Kuz 😅 pic.twitter.com/LZCHXlXOc4
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 15, 2021
News 5 Cleveland (WEWS-TV), Cleveland’s ABC affiliate, was recently airing one of Kuzma’s press conferences. When they showed him on the screen, the lower-third read that Kuzma “won an NBA championship thanks to LeBron James.”
Kuzma, who averaged 10.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game during the 2020 postseason en route to a title for the Los Angeles Lakers while playing at the NBA’s bubble location in Florida, obviously wasn’t going to take such trolling without offering his own quip in return.
City of Cleveland we have something in common 😅😭 nice too meet you https://t.co/4syPtvnKYS
— kuz (@kylekuzma) November 15, 2021
Kuzma shared a screengrab of the jab, adding: “City of Cleveland we have something in common” in response. The irony wasn’t lost on Kuzma and it was truly masterful work in the art of deflection from the NBA champion.
For the 26-year-old forward, of course, it would have been hard to just let that little joke from the news station stand. Any attempt to diss someone when the diss also applies to the one dishing it needs to be thrown back in their face.
Considering that James led Cleveland to their city’s first and only major sports title since 1964, Kuzma had no choice but to remind them that they owed a shared thank you to LeBron.
