Kyle Kuzma Blames Nonexistent Earthquake After Air-Balling Free Throw


The Warriors bench really let him hear it after this embarrassing miss.

LeBron is shooting the next one

Shooting a technical free throw is one of the easiest things for an NBA player to do. You’re standing 15 feet away from the basket, with nobody around you. And since the team gets to decide who takes the technical, the guy shooting it is usually pretty decent at free throws. You’re not going to make 100% of them, but the chances of embarrassing yourself are pretty slim. Well, unless you’re Kyle Kuzma.

Kuzma was chosen to take a free throw after a technical foul on James Wiseman in Monday night’s Lakers–Warriors game. He didn’t just miss it—he looked like he needed a GPS to find the basket. His airball was short and way off to the left. It was so bad that it left the Warriors bench in hysterics.

Kent Bazemore doubled over laughing. Stephen Curry just kept saying, “What?!” Draymond Green repeatedly threw his arms up in the air while yelling, “Damn!”

This angle shows just how wide left the shot was.

While the Warriors were laughing it up, the Lakers players didn’t find it all that amusing. LeBron and Montrezl Harrell’s faces say it all.

The Lakers ended up getting the last laugh, though, cruising to a 128–97 victory, and so Kuzma was in a joking mood after the game. He blamed the airball on an earthquake that happened to strike just as he was shooting.

Of course, there was no earthquake. He just forgot how to play basketball for a fraction of a second. Judging by the look LeBron gave him, it’s safe to say that Kuzma won’t be taking any more technical free throws when LeBron is on the floor. 

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