Quotes from Kyle Kuzma

NBA's spacing's really helped. Teams gotta really respect my jumper.

There's always going to be obstacles and people that doubt you. So it's about proving people wrong and bettering yourself and trying to be the best you.

ESPN puts out anything for clicks now, it kind of seems like.

I have a very high love for the game. My mom would always drop me off at the YMCA downtown in Flint, and I'd stay there all day. If she couldn't take me, I'd take the bus there and be there until she'd pick me up when she got off work. I've always had the love for basketball.

Flint is a very tough place to live. The environment is definitely a different type of environment than anywhere else in the country, I feel like.

Being from Flint, especially in the basketball community, is a big deal. Basketball in Flint, you're pretty much like a god there if you play college basketball or are lucky enough to make it to the NBA.

Growing up, I was a Detroit Pistons fan, being from Flint. During not the Bad Boys but Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace era, and growing up, I always wanted to be a Piston.

I wanted to explore the world and explore life. I wanted to have more to life than Flint.

I'm just comfortable all over the floor.

When I'm locked in and focused, I can do pretty much anything I want.

I don't want to be one of those guys who makes it somewhere and forgets where they come from. Flint is very important to me.

It's cool to be a Laker: that's basketball royalty, in a sense. The best franchise in basketball, so to be drafted by them is pretty cool, pretty special.

I was always thankful for the YMCA. Of course, growing up, you don't really think about it, because when you're a kid, you're in your own world. But back then, it was just so much. I'm going to go the Y, hanging out, playing games all day, playing basketball.

I am always a woke person, know about things, always feel a certain type of way.

It's a great feeling when people recognize you, but at the same time, you gotta take it with a grain of salt, continue to work so you get better, because people can change on you; thoughts can change.

You know how you're in elementary school and the teacher goes around the room and, like, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' I said, 'NBA player.' And she's like, 'Well, OK. Maybe pick a real job.' But I really believed it. I felt like I was meant to be here.

I'm just very confident at all times. I've always been like that, no matter who's guarding me or who I'm on the court with.

You can have a strong work ethic. Yes, that's going to take you far. But I think if you have a solid work ethic and a passion, that's different.

I'm the 27th pick - not too many people thought I was gonna play the way I am. It's just a testament to having confidence and work ethic and believing in yourself and keeping the marathon going.

A lot people have a strong work ethic because they want the lifestyle, or they want the money, but me, I have a hard work ethic because I love the game.

I'm talented, but my work ethic has pushed me over the top.

Flint is a big, industrial city. But when I was growing up, they had the recession, lead in the water, and all this other stuff. The city was really depleted.

I want to clean up my handle. Get stronger. Those are the things that will help me out in the long run.

I'm always confident, always expect high expectations for myself.