"Having pride and not letting people score on me" - Bucks’ Kyle Kuzma on his two-way ability, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard [Exclusive]

The Milwaukee Bucks believe they found the missing piece to their championship puzzle. But since integrating versatile two-way forward Kyle Kuzma for the past month, the Bucks have since discovered that piece doesn’t always fit.

“I think we’re screwing him up more right now with just putting so much on his plate,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said.

That’s because the Bucks have asked Kuzma to fulfill his jack-of-all-trades, sometimes to a fault.

With center Jericho Sims missing the past two games with an injured right thumb, Kuzma has occasionally played at the center and power forward spot. Kuzma usually plays as a small forward as both the team’s key perimeter defender and secondary scorer. But Bucks guard Damian Lillard recently faulted himself and the team for not giving Kuzma more opportunities to attack downhill and play in the open court.

Just like he has for most of his nine-year NBA career with the Lakers (2017-21) and Washington Wizards (2021-25), however, Kuzma has figured out how to plug in the gaps.

With the Bucks missing Lillard with a calf injury, Kuzma helped Milwaukee to a 118-89 win over the Lakers on Thursday at Crypto.com with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists despite Rivers’ admission that the team didn’t run any plays for him.

With the Lakers missing both their stars (LeBron James, Luka Dončić) and key role players (Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt), Kuzma and Giannis Antetokounmpo (28 points) took advantage of their injury-riddled counterparts.

Since joining the Bucks on Feb. 7, Kuzma has cracked double digits in 16 of his 20 games.

“We had to kill them,” Kuzma said of the Lakers. “We let one off the hook in Golden State. Obviously with getting ready for Golden State, you prepare for Steph [Curry]. When you find out Steph wasn’t playing earlier in the afternoon, we went out there and played like Steph wasn’t playing and we got popped. So we’re not trying to repeat history.”

No wonder the Bucks (39-30) acquired Kuzma from the Washington Wizards before the trade deadline, even at the expense of a valued All-Star (Khris Middleton) and role player (AJ Johnson). With the Bucks hoping to state their NBA championship case against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee acquired a player who played a key role in the Lakers’ 2020 NBA title run with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“He’s so versatile on defense and offense for us,” Rivers said, “that he’s going to be a very, very valuable player moving forward.”

Kuzma spoke to Sportskeeda about the fit so far, two-way ability, playing with Bucks' superstars, and more.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

Kyle Kuzma (Exclusive)

How has the post-trade deadline treated you so far?

Kuzma: “It’s been treating me great. Being here has been amazing. It’s a great town, a great organization, great players, great coaches. So I’m happy to be here.”

What has been key for you to have an impact right away?

Kuzma: “Having that pedigree is the biggest thing. I haven’t found my total offensive groove. But I’ve been able to be competitive. Defense and rebounding is something that I do really, really well. So that’s what made an impact. It’s just about being able to compete. That’s the best thing for me. And it’s something that I’m very happy to do, especially with this group of people. We’re only going to be better.”

Where do you go from here with finding your offensive groove?

Kuzma: “It’s really about us as a team. We’re a brand new team post deadline. So it’s really about understanding everybody and understanding what we want to accomplish on the court.”

Dame talked about the group trying to put you in a position to get in the open court and attack downhill. How do you view that?

Kuzma: “It’s about getting rebounds and us making outlet passes. It’s just about playing basketball the right way. Any time we do that, we’re a pretty tough team.”

Doc praised you, but said that “we’re screwing him up more right now with just putting so much on his plate.” How do you view that?

Kuzma: “I don’t think it’s too much, honestly. It’s basketball. I’m just trying to have fun as much as I can and just compete. When you compete, it’ll go well.”

Doc also said you made the point that despite your time with the Lakers that you actually never played with a shooting five. What has that process been like to adapt?

Kuzma: “It’s just basketball. I’m learning to adapt and just trying to figure out how people play and what people do and then watching film. Then I work on getting better every day.”

How have you tried to fill the gaps with Giannis and Dame on the floor?

Kuzma: “A lot of it is running the floor, cutting and trying to find open spaces. Those are the biggest things because they are unbelievable players.”

What have been your impressions so far on how Giannis and Dame lead?

Kuzma: “The biggest thing that jumps out to me is their leadership and how [Giannis] talks to everybody and how he motivates people. He’s huge on accountability. They really take care of us. But we also police ourselves. They’re positive every single day. They’re coming in and telling everyone, “Great job” but they’re also talking about competing and being focused. They’re really leading by example every single day.”

How have you tried to exert your championship experience so far?

Kuzma: It’s just by communication and being vocal. That’s the biggest thing. I’m trying to speak and talk up and use my knowledge. I’m not being too high. I’m not being too low. I’m being able to be resilient. I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m trying to compete, bring positivity and have a good spirit.”

How do you evaluate what you’ve brought defensively since you’re often taking on the big individual assignments?

Kuzma: “It’s just about having pride and not letting people score on me. I like to be somebody that is known as a two-way player. I think it’s super important.”

I looked up your defense this season. You held some elite players to pretty low clips. (That included Luka Dončić at 2-for-7, Kawhi Leonard at 1-for-9, Michael Porter Jr. at 2-for-9 and Tyrese Haliburton at 2-for-6.) What went into having those kind of performances?

Kuzma: “That’s a pretty good list. It’s about knowing their games and being able to take them out of what they do. Then you apply that on defense. I watch film. I watch a lot of film. And I’ve played them for eight, nine years in the league now. So I know what they’re trying to do.”

How do you put this season in perspective with playing on a rebuilding Wizards team with injuries and then getting traded to a possible contender?

Kuzma: “I’m healthy now. I’m almost healthy. Being able to play and compete for a championship is what I’ve always wanted to do. I feel like I’m at 90%. I’m turning a corner. Over the past couple games, I’ve made progress with my movement and my ability with the team.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.