The Los Angeles Lakers have finally had their banner raising ceremony, almost seven months after winning the 2020 NBA championship, which was the 17th title for the franchise.
Forward Kyle Kuzma, who had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists in a win over the Houston Rockets last night, talked about what the banner ceremony meant for him.
“It meant a lot,” Kuzma said postgame. “I’ve been here the longest, I’ve been here through some ugly times. Some real ugly times. Whether it was the rookie year and the whole debacles we had, second year, same crazy stuff. I’ve kind of seen it all.
“So for me to be here from the jump and be a part of kind of essentially turning around an organization from the jump, from the draft, that’s where it all started for this whole strategic gameplan.
“It just means a lot. Being just a kid from Flint, Michigan, I never really thought about raising banners in Staples Center. So it’s real surreal to me.
“I’m just really grateful that I’m able to play the game that I love and contribute at a high level to winning. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, the banner I’ve been a part of, it’s up there forever. It’s never gonna go down and I’ll always remember this moment.”
