The Los Angeles Lakers got a rough bit of news on Thursday after finding out that young forward Kyle Kuzma is set to miss time after suffering a stress reaction in his left foot.
According to the team, Kuzma suffered a stress-related injury in his left foot while practicing with USA Basketball in the FIBA World Cup event in China in August. He’s been undergoing rehabilitation ever since then, but the team is still unsure when he’ll be able to return to training camp and/or game action.
The team says that Kuzma will not be ready until mid-October, at the earliest. This puts his status for the Lakers’ season-opener on October 22nd against the cross-town rival Clippers in question.
The third-year pro, who averaged 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for Los Angeles last season, is expected to be a key piece in a team that will be looking to contend for the NBA title. Before he can even get this campaign going, however, he’ll have to ensure that his foot is healthy enough to withstand the rigors of the NBA season.
The Lakers and GM Rob Pelinka will just have to keep their fingers crossed for now and hope that Kuzma’s foot injury rehab process goes smoothly and that he doesn’t miss too much time at the start of the year.
