Lakers News: Latest on LeBron James' Award, Dennis Schroder and Kyle Kuzma

The Los Angeles Lakers are a lot of things: world champions, an iconic franchise—and NBA newsmakers of the highest order.

Rarely a day goes by that something of note isn't taking place in the Purple and Gold realm.

This is not one of those days. As per usual, the Lakers are making noise on multiple fronts, and we'll examine all the latest reports around this team.

LeBron Enters History Books as AP's Male Athlete of the Year

Ringo H.W. Chiu/Associated Press

LeBron James has a reached an almost mythical, Mount Rushmore-level of brilliance on the basketball court. But if it's possible, he's been arguably even more influential off the court as a tireless advocate for social justice and someone who's made it his personal duty to elevate his hometown community of Akron, Ohio.

In recognition of his work both on and off the court, the King was crowned as The Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year for a record-tying fourth time.

"I still know what I do on the floor and obviously, I give everything to the game," James told the AP's Tim Reynolds. "But I can make a greater impact off the floor right now, more than I can on the floor. And I want to continue to inspire people with the way I play the game of basketball. But there's so many more things that I can do off the floor to help cultivate people, inspire people, bring people together, empower them."

James became the first player to win NBA Finals MVP for three different franchises, while delivering the Lakers their first world title since 2010. He led the league in assists for the first time in his career (10.2) and surpassed the late Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the all-time scoring list.

James, who received the honor in 2013, 2016 and 2018, matched Lance Armstong and Tiger Woods for the most honors by men. Three women have won the award at least four times: Babe Didrikson (six), Serena Williams (five) and Chris Evert (four).

Dennis Schroder 'For Sure' Interested in Extension

Ringo H.W. Chiu/Associated Press

The Lakers sought extra playmaking and more perimeter scoring when they traded for Dennis Schroder in November. He's already delivered enough on both fronts to spark extension talks with the team.

The Lakers actually offered him an extension before the season at two years and $33.4 million, the maximum they could give before Feb. 16, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Schroder declined that offer, but new talks have started and "are expected to pick up again as soon as mid-February."

Come Feb. 16, L.A. can allow as much as $83 million on a four-year deal, so it isn't hard to see why Schroder shrugged off the initial offer. But he told reporters he's "very comfortable" with the club and "for sure" interested in an eventual extension that's fair for both parties.

The 27-year-old, who's on the final season of his contract, posted multiple career-highs for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season, including 18.9 points and a 46.9 field-goal percentage. He nearly triple-doubled in his Lakers' debut (14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists) and has scored double figures in each of his first four games with the team.

Frank Vogel Impressed by Kyle Kuzma's Development

Kyusung Gong/Associated Press

From a statistical standpoint, Kyle Kuzma lost as much as any Laker when the club teamed LeBron James with Anthony Davis last season. Given Kuzma's declining averages (his minutes, shots and points all checked in at career lows), more than a few eyebrows were raised when he inked a three-year, $40 million extension (player option for the third season) earlier this month.

But numbers aside, the Lakers could sense Kuzma's growth in the more subtle areas of the sport—areas that don't always come through on the stat sheet. Even if he's not putting up as many numbers in the box score, he's perhaps becoming more of a complete player.

"Kuz has really become a hell of a player," Lakers coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "Playing in the role that he played last year, where there were games where he wasn't really that involved in the offense and had to impact the game in other ways, I think in the long run is really, really, really going to help his game."

Shrinking a young player's role is rarely a comfortable process, and some can see the reduction as insult. But if players respond the right way—as Kuzma seems to have done—it can allow them to become more versatile and find more ways to positively impact the game. If that's the trajectory the fourth-year forward is on, the Lakers were wise to make the early investment.