Kyle Kuzma Says 'There's Something Wrong' with Lakers After Loss to Suns

The Los Angeles Lakers are not looking good right now, and they know it.

After the Lakers' 118-109 loss to the last-place Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, forward Kyle Kuzma was asked how the Lakers can snap out of their current slump. Per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times, Kuzma said, "I'm honestly not even sure. Obviously, there's something wrong with this team. It's up to us to try to fix it."

L.A. has lost four out of its last five games, and eight of the last 11, with embarrassing losses to both the Suns and the 21-42 Atlanta Hawks. At 30-33, the Lakers are in serious danger of missing the playoffs.  

LeBron James has appeared in eight consecutive NBA Finals, and it is all but certain that that streak will end this season. L.A. now sits 4.5 games back from the Los Angeles Clippers, who currently own the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. 

The Lakers' next game is against the Clippers on Monday, and it's a must-win. In fact, each of the Lakers' 19 remaining games has to be viewed as must-win. The problem is that 12 of those 19 games are against teams .500 or better.

In James' first season as a Laker, the chemistry has been sparse with his teammates. That relationship got even rockier after the Lakers' very public pursuit of New Orleans Pelicans All-Star forward Anthony Davis prior to the Feb. 7 trade deadline. 

Since the deadline, the Lakers are 3-6. 

After losing to the Davis-less Pelicans on Feb. 23, James noted that injures have "taken a toll" on the team, per NBA TV. James missed 17 games in December and January due to a groin injury, and during his absence, point guard Lonzo Ball went down with an ankle sprain and remains out. 

However, it was James' comments after a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 25 that garnered more attention: "If you're still allowing distractions to affect the way you play, this is the wrong franchise to be a part of." While it's unclear if James was hinting at one particular distraction, many have speculated he was referring to the trade deadline.

As for Kuzma, the 2017 No. 27 overall selection is averaging 18.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 59 appearances so far this season.

At the All-Star break, Kuzma told Justin Termine of SiriusXM NBA Radio, "I'd rather be talked about bad in L.A. than play in Orlando and not get talked about."

Well, people are talking about the Lakers, and it most definitely falls under the "bad" umbrella.