Kyle Kuzma was named to the MTN DEW ICE Rising Stars Challenge for a second time in as many seasons, though 2019 saw the young Los Angeles Lakers forward among the starters for Team USA. Kuzma scored 20 points off the bench at Staples Center last year in a loss to the World.
He nearly matched that effort through the first four minutes of the 2019 Rising Stars Challenge, scoring 14 of Team’s USA 20 points to open the game. “Just to play hard, give back to the game,” he said of the performance.
“I played in this game last year, and I was really lackadaisical, and I didn’t want to do that again.