DALLAS — Kyle Kuzma is now in his ninth NBA season and first full campaign with Milwaukee. During his time in the Association, the former Utah Runnin’ Ute has filled various roles from ballyhooed rookie who earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team to contributor on a championship team in 2020, the offensive focal point in Washington, to now being a key bench contributor with the Bucks.
No matter the role, he’s always approached the game with a simple mindset, one learned during his time as a Ute between 2013 and 2021 under then head coach Larry Krystkowiak, who played nine seasons in the Association with the bulk of those being spent where Kuzma now plays, in Milwaukee.
“I’ve always been a team-first type of guy. Being in this league for nine years, I’ve played every type of position, option, role you could play in this league, being a franchise guy, being a key piece on a championship team to now being a key role player from the bench,” Kuzma, 30, said. “It doesn’t really matter (what my role is) because there’s things you can’t control in life, but you can control your attitude and your effort. That’s what I learned from Larry K.”
Kuzma or “Kuz” as he’s known to teammates, recalls his time as a Ute, which included redshirting as a true freshman in 2013, averaging in double-figures the following season and earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior in his final season before declaring for the NBA draft, fondly.
“Yeah, I think those were some of the most transformative years of my life, something that I will never forget. Utah is an unbelievable place, a place where I became a man from (coaches like) Larry K and Tommy Connor to DeMarlo Slocumb, Andy Hill. Those guys really pushed me to grow as a person and player,” he said. “The community in Salt Lake is something I’ll never forget. I really enjoy going back.”
The Flint, Michigan, native remembers flying into the Beehive State for the first time and immediately realizing that was where he wanted to play his college ball.
“That was the only place I truly wanted to go to. Once I landed, I committed in my head prior to even getting off the airplane,” Kuzma recalled. “I was flying in, saw the mountains and was like this is my place. I committed within the first four or five hours of my visit. I love it. I had some other options obviously, but I knew in my heart right away that was where I wanted to be.”
After being selected 28th overall in the 2017 NBA draft to the Nets, who traded his rights to the Lakers on draft night, he played in Los Angeles until summer 2021, when the Lakers dealt him to the Wizards. He was traded to Milwaukee in February 2025 and Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, who led Boston to the 2008 NBA title, is happy to have him coming off his bench. “He’s been good. He’s really bought into his role,” Rivers said. “When you look back on his Laker days when he was on that championship team, he’s doing that again.”
“When he went to Washington, they wanted him to be a primary scorer. We felt here that’s not what we need him to be, and he wasn’t efficient doing that in Washington. I give him a lot of credit. It’s hard to go from you get to shoot every time, good or bad shot, to being a roller, being a pick setter, being a facilitator and then coming off the bench and he took it all.
“He’s been great. He finishes games for us at times and he’s our utility knife. We can play him everywhere — on the ball, on point.”
And Rivers admits that after Kuzma joined the team late last season at the trade deadline, he’s only now getting to know the savvy veteran as a player and a person.
“We move him around, he’s enjoying it and I’m enjoying getting to know him. We got him in the middle of the season and I didn’t know him,” Rivers said. “This year, I’m really starting to learn more about him, learn his IQ. His basketball IQ is really high. I didn’t know that until now. I didn’t know that last year, we didn’t have him long enough. He’s been great.”
Kuzma has already played for several NBA coaches but has especially enjoyed suiting up for Rivers, a former coach of the year who is among the all-time best. “It’s fun, it’s fascinating. It’s obviously tough to learn on the fly (like I did last year after the trade) and get to know somebody, what their intentions are and their agendas,” he said.
“To have a full training camp, see him a little bit in the summertime and speaking with him, it’s been great. We have a great relationship, very straightforward and business, but we speak about many other things because he’s lived a hell of a life. A great role model, he’s been in the league for 45 years.”
“Utah is an unbelievable place, a place where I became a man from (coaches like) Larry K and Tommy Connor to DeMarlo Slocumb, Andy Hill. Those guys really pushed me to grow as a person and player. The community in Salt Lake is something I’ll never forget. I really enjoy going back.”
— former Utah basketball player Kyle Kuzma
And like his fellow former Utes, he’s happy to see another Utah product make his NBA debut earlier this year in Branden Carlson, currently on a two-way contract with reigning league champion Oklahoma City, joining a group of ex-Utes currently in the league like Jakob Poeltl (Toronto) and Delon Wright, who was with Indiana in preseason.
“It’s cool, especially to see Branden Carlson. There was a big drought after me and to see him there is so super cool,” Kuzma said. “Always good to see Jakob (Poeltl). I came to Utah with him and Delon (Wright) too, he’s one of my best friends in life. When you’re a Ute, you have a special bond.”
A big part of that bond is sharing what Kuzma thinks defines he and others who played at Utah.
“(We’re all) underdogs and overachievers. Think about everybody that’s gone there, it’s never been a heralded type of school,” he said. “These are guys that are two-, three-star recruits, never heard of, grind it out, go to junior college, figure it out. It’s a school of a lot of overachievers.”
Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.