Lakers News: Kyle Kuzma Calls Out George Karl’s Insane Claim

The ex-Laker had a no-holds-barred response.

Apr 3, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33). / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Former Los Angeles Lakers reserve combo forward Kyle Kuzma certainly seems to value the time he logged with his first NBA club, to the point where he's happy to defend his 2019-20 title run with L.A. against increasing (cynical) claims seeking to de-value the achievement.

The most recent such voice belongs to Hall of Fame former NBA head coach George Karl, best remembered for his stints with the Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.

Karl recently took to his personal X account to claim that their 2020 championship "doesn't count."

Karl, the 2013 NBA Coach of the Year and a four-time All-Star Game head coach (meaning his team had the best record in its conference at the time a coach was determined), boasts an overall 1175-824 regular season record and an 80-105 record in the playoffs. He knows of what he speaks when it comes to X's and O's, but seeking to invalidate a legitimate run to a title, in more trying circumstances than others (in this case, being confined to a strict Orlando, Florida "bubble" campus to finish out the season, without fans present, in the midst of the first year of a pre-vaccine COVID-19 pandemic), seems like a strange move.

It's understandable, then, that Kuzma — now with the Washington Wizards — weighed in on Instagram when ESPN shared the Karl quote (check out the comments).

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"George Karl never won a chip how you discredit that lol," Kuzma chimed in.

Karl brought the 1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA Finals, where they lost in six games to the Chicago Bulls.

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