Kyle Kuzma making NBA history in rookie season with Lakers

Kyle Kuzma isn’t just shattering expectations in his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he’s breaking franchise records and making NBA history.

On Friday against the Miami Heat, Kuzma broke the Lakers’ all-time record for most 3-pointers made by a rookie in a single season (132), a record previously held by the No. 2 overall pick pick in 2015 D’Angelo Russell. Kuzma’s 132 made 3-pointers is a team-high and is second among rookies this season.

“It’s pretty special,” Kuzma said of breaking the record. “Any time you have any type of record in any record, especially with the Lakers, it’s pretty special. It’s also pretty cool just off the simple fact that everybody said pre-draft, and what not, that I couldn’t shoot. Pretty fun huh? How that works.”

Per basketball-reference, Kuzma is just eight 3-pointers away from breaking into the top-10 all-time made threes by any Laker in a single season. Nick Young did this last season and could have even gone for the all-time record had he not sat out the final few games. Nick Van Exel holds the record with 183, followed by Kobe Bryant who made 180 during the 2005-06 season.

But Kuzma’s not just making Lakers history, he’s making NBA history.

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With 1032 points, 414 rebounds and 132 threes this season, Kuzma became the first rookie in NBA History to record at least 1000 points, 400 rebounds and 130 3-pointers. Not too shabby for the No. 27 pick in the draft.

With his combination of size, skill and shooting, Kuzma has emerged as one of the NBA’s poster boys for what the modern power forward looks like. While he still has a few areas he still needs to work on, namely his shot selection and all-around defense, he’s off to a phenomenal start.

All quotes were transcribed via Spectrum SportsNet. All stats were provided by stats.nba.com unless otherwise noted.