The Washington Wizards lost on Wednesday night to the Orlando Magic to fall to 3-15 on the year. And after the game, Wizards star forward Kyle Kuzma had some harsh remarks about his team.
It was the 10th loss in the last 11 games for the Wizards. And a common theme for the Wizards this season has been their poor defense. They came into the game allowing 124.8 points per game, tied for the most points allowed in the entire league.
Wednesday’s game was no different, as the Wizards allowed the Magic to score 139 points, the most the Magic have scored all season in any game.
WAGIC WIN⁸ 🪄 pic.twitter.com/XwUqkYQ40c
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) November 30, 2023
It’s clear that this Wizards team will not succeed if they continue to allow teams to score this much each game. And Wizards star Kyle Kuzma sent his teammates a clear message after the game, voicing his frustrations with the team’s poor defensive effort.
“We can’t guard a stop sign,” Kuzma said via The Athletic’s Josh Robbins. “That’s kind of really what it boils down to. We let anybody get whatever they want on us. So, until we change that, then that’s probably going to be the result.”
Kyle Kuzma was asked by @TheAthleticNBA how this game got out of hand. His answer: "We can't guard a stop sign. That's kind of really what it boils down to. We let anybody get whatever they want on us. So, until we change that, then that's probably going to be the result."
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) November 30, 2023
It’s obviously an incredibly harsh comment from Kuzma. But that doesn’t make it an inaccurate one whatsoever.
Truthfully, this comment from Kuzma may be exactly what this team needs to change their mentality defensively. And as Kuzma said, until they make some big changes as a team collectively, they will likely continue to be a losing basketball team.
