Kyle Kuzma is the NBA’s newest cult hero

The Lakers found the NBA’s newest cult hero when they drafted Kyle Kuzma with the No. 27 overall pick in 2017. The 23-year-old pure scorer can run hot and cold, but when he gets going, he’ll have fans ordering jerseys at halftime.

Without LeBron James, who’s still nursing a groin injury, Kuzma delivered a 41-point performance in just three quarters to beat the Pistons on Wednesday night. He was cleared to take center stage, and he ran with it like any captivating scoring figure would.

Kuzma may not be the Lakers’ best prospect, or even the second-best depending on how one feels about the potential of Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram. But he’s ideal for cult fandom in a city that worships it like none other. He’s driven the Kobe Bryant-disciple narrative, with Mamba shoutouts and special clothing since his debut. For better or worse, there are night he fulfills that on-court prophecy.

Kuzma scored 26 points before registering a single rebound against Detroit and scored all 41 without notching an assist, which is incredibly Mamba-esque. Yet every minute he spent on the court was mesmerizing. Even head coach Luke Walton could only joke about the lopsided performance.

“It felt like [the ball] was skipping around out there until it hit Kuz’s hand, and then it was going up every time,” he said, via ESPN.

“I was still trying to look for teammates,” Kuzma said. “My assists don’t reflect that. But if I’m open, I’m going to shoot.”

Kyle Kuzma is a movement.

It doesn’t take long to find passion-laced, pro-Kuzma talk on Twitter.

Kuzma remains a poor defender, and he clearly isn’t a reliable playmaker for others, but he does what fans love and what highlight videos are made to show: score.

Kuzma’s 41 points came on 16-of-24 shooting, an efficient night that included 5-of-10 from three-point range.

Yet Kuzma’s cult was still mad at one very important thing for the numbers-obsessed legion of sports fans: Walton didn’t let Kuzma play a minute of the fourth quarter to reach 50 points! A 50-piece would’ve catapulted his hero status to infinity.

Kuzma’s play is addicting. His shots take an audience’s attention, and like another cult figure in Klay Thompson, he becomes a must-watch show when he’s hot. In those scenarios, both players are only doing one thing when they catch the rock, and fanbases live for it.

Kuzma is in just his second season, though he’s on the older side — he’s two years older than Ball, despite being in the same draft class. He has plenty of time to refine some of the areas he’s lacking in as a defender and passer, but for now, his scoring is a very useful skill.

Will he last as a team’s second-best overall player? Maybe if the team isn’t good. But he’s shooting 47 percent from the field and scoring 19 points per game, fulfilling a void alongside LeBron that Ingram and Ball haven’t.

In the right role, with the right number of minutes, Kuzma’s play could be useful in the long-term. In the short-term, he’s the best scoring counterpart LeBron has to make a playoff run.

Kuzma’s stans are hyperbolic and his critics are too stuffy. That’s how you know a new cult hero is on the way.