Kyle Kuzma Blames Nonexistent Earthquake After Air-Balling Free Throw

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: Kyle Kuzma’s excuse for an embarrassing miss, a classic Lionel Messi goal and more.

LeBron is shooting the next one

Shooting a technical free throw is one of the easiest things for an NBA player to do. You’re standing 15 feet away from the basket, with nobody around you. And since the team gets to decide who takes the technical, the guy shooting it is usually pretty decent at free throws. You’re not going to make 100% of them, but the chances of embarrassing yourself are pretty slim. Well, unless you’re Kyle Kuzma.

Kuzma was chosen to take a free throw after a technical foul on James Wiseman in Monday night’s Lakers–Warriors game. He didn’t just miss it—he looked like he needed a GPS to find the basket. His airball was short and way off to the left. It was so bad that it left the Warriors bench in hysterics.

Kent Bazemore doubled over laughing. Stephen Curry just kept saying, “What?!” Draymond Green repeatedly threw his arms up in the air while yelling, “Damn!”

This angle shows just how wide left the shot was.

While the Warriors were laughing it up, the Lakers players didn’t find it all that amusing. LeBron and Montrezl Harrell’s faces say it all.

NBC Sports Bay Area

The Lakers ended up getting the last laugh, though, cruising to a 128–97 victory, and so Kuzma was in a joking mood after the game. He blamed the airball on an earthquake that happened to strike just as he was shooting.

Kyle Kuzma on air-balling the technical foul FT: “San Francisco had a 3.5 magnitude earthquake. Shit started rumbling. I don’t know. I got scared, and it went far off to the left.”

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 16, 2021

Of course, there was no earthquake. He just forgot how to play basketball for a fraction of a second. Judging by the look LeBron gave him, it’s safe to say that Kuzma won’t be taking any more technical free throws when LeBron is on the floor. 

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Around the sports world

Two Texas Rangers employees told the New York Daily News they’re worried about the team’s plan to fill the stands on Opening Day. ... Dana White is planning a full crowd for UFC 261 in Jacksonville. ... Julius Randle was irate after a controversial call in the final seconds of Knicks–Nets. ... Daniil Medvedev is No. 2 in the ATP world rankings, making him the first man other than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray to hold one of the top two spots since 2005. ... Several refs have reportedly been sent home from the men’s NCAA tournament due to COVID-19 issues. 

Messi magic

💥 LIONEL MESSI marks his milestone game with a "millimeter perfect" finish! #BarçaHuesca pic.twitter.com/f9H9dFWGwJ

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) March 15, 2021

And here’s Ray Hudson doing his thing on commentary

🐐 @RayHudson: "This magisterial footballer that is a true gift from Olympus... that we've never seen before and will never see the likes of again" pic.twitter.com/jsZrPt3Mtq

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) March 15, 2021

Back-to-back-to-back jacks to win it in extras

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night. pic.twitter.com/ioHEd1P1V1

— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) March 15, 2021

Balletic

WOW KYRIE 🥵

(via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/ZexfKtkCG5

— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) March 16, 2021

Can we at least have the guy keep his mask on?

Cardboard is out. Humans are in.

Single game tickets go on sale next week! pic.twitter.com/aYIvaKR2Uv

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 15, 2021

That’s Mike Harrington in The Buffalo News

A newspaper in Buffalo has placed the Seattle Kraken ahead of the Sabres in their power rankings 😂 😂 pic.twitter.com/4lYa4Qlnxv

— NHL Chirps (@nhlchirpz) March 15, 2021

College sports!

Indiana confirms Archie Miller's firing with a statement that says "private philanthropic funding" will pay the $10 mil buyout.

I'm dying at Indiana using the word "philanthropic." Why donate $10 mil to cancer research when you can donate to Archie Miller's unemployment fund!

— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) March 15, 2021

Tiger Woods is the new face of 2K’s golf game

I really wanted this to be an actual clip from the episode

Not sports

Spain is going to experiment with a four-day work week. ... Glenn Close is the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie for the same role. ... A Czech zoo is helping chimps cope with the lack of crowds by showing them a live stream of monkeys from another zoo.

He’s the corniest man alive

Sand blowing in from Mongolia turned skies in Beijing a very odd color

My favorite is Tupu, Hupu, Lupu

New Zealand is an alternate universe

A good song

Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.