Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson says he is ''proud'' of promising Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kozma. Ball, 19, and Kuzma, the 27th pick of this past NBA draft, led the Lakers to the NBA Las Vegas Summer League title. The Purple and Gold outclassed the Portland Trail Blazers 110-98 in the final match on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center to win it all
The team was without Ball, who was forced to sit out because of a right calf strain, but Kuzma's big-time performance helped the Lakers get the win. The forward out of Utah torched the Trail Blazers, scoring 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field -- 10 of those 16 shots were three pointers, and six went in.
The 2017 Las Vegas Summer League MVP (Lonzo Ball) averaged 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds throughout the competition. On the other side, Kuzma collected 21.9 points per game on a magnificent 51.4 field goal percentage, also hitting 24-of-50 of his attempts beyond the arc.
''Well, I'm proud of both of them,'' Johnson told ESPN during the on-court celebration when asked how proud he is of Ball and Kuzma. ''You know, both of them came out here with their teammates and played team basketball. You only get awards when you win. So they both led our Summer League team to the championship.''
Don't sleep on Ingram
magic johnson expects to see rising Los Angeles Lakers star Brandon Ingram's game take a step forward next season.
Ingram, last year's number two overall pick, is one of the most intriguing and talented players in the NBA. After a slow start to his rookie season, the Duke product found his rhythm after the All-Star to finish the year averaging 9.4 points on a 40.2 percent field goal percentage.
Ingram provided a glimpse of his improvement in Las Vegas, scoring 26 points in the opening game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
That was all from Ingram as he suffered an injury at the end of the game and the team decided to shut him down for the rest of the competition after the opener.
''But, you know, we're building,'' Johnson said. ''And we got another great base of the Lakers in BI because we're looking forward to him...and Brandon having a great year.''
The experience
Magic Johnson remains optimistic about the Los Angeles Lakers' future as the team isn't relying only on their promising young corps.
The Lakers have a couple of well-known and proven NBA players such as Brook Lopez, along with Julius Randle and Larry Lance Jr..
''So, you know, we got a lot of great faces here, young people who are going to lead the Lakers,'' Johnson acknowledged. ''And we got a lot of great veterans; Brook Lopez, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., all those guys are at home. And we just signed KCP.''
