Andre Drummond is off to a slow start with the Los Angeles Lakers, and new teammate Kyle Kuzma thinks lousy coaching over the years is to blame.
Kuzma spoke this week on Drummond’s struggles to begin his Lakers career. In the process, Kuzma got in a shot at Drummond’s former coaches.
“I mean, it’s just a process, man, “said Kuzma, per Dan Feldman of NBC Sports. “It’s not going to happen overnight. Rome wasn’t built overnight.
“I think that for him, it’s a big adjustment,” Kuzma added of Drummond. “When you think about it, he’s kind of really never really been coached in his career. Playing in Detroit, in Cleveland, and then coming here into a championship organization, it’s tough. It’s tough.”
The 27-year-old Drummond had seven coaches in ten seasons before joining the Lakers last month. He was coached by Lawrence Frank, Maurice Cheeks, John Loyer, Stan Van Gundy, and Dwane Casey in Detroit as well as by John Beilein and JB Bickerstaff in Cleveland. Of those seven, four are no longer head coaches in the NBA.
If anything, Drummond may have been affected by the constant turnover rather than by the ability of the coaches themselves. But this is still a brutal shot from Kuzma, who has already shaded small-market teams before.
More must-reads: