Kyle Kuzma Isn't Giving Up On Flint, Michigan

By Zaron Burnett III


In his senior year of high school, Kyle Kuzma wasn't the categorize kind of basketball player who was scouted by big schools like Michigan or Michigan State — the two top choices for a basketball-loving kid raised in Michigan. Alternatively, Kuzma headed west to play for the University of Utah. He became star and also a team leader, averaging 10 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, although ultimately wasn't invited to the NBA draft. Nevertheless, with their 27th in general draft pick in 2017, the Los Angeles Lakers selected Kuzma; since then he’s become one of the bright young stars of the NBA.


Although, as Kuzma settled into his life and career out west, his hometown noticed itself in crisis. Kuzma is from Flint, Michigan, and for the last five years, residents of the predominantly Black town have had no tidy water to drink, to wash with, to support life itself.


The crisis started on April 25, 2014, whenever the city, under the control of an emergency manager, determined to switch its source for drinking water and started to pump polluted water from the Flint River in an effort to save the bankrupt city $5 million dollars throughout the construction of a new pipeline. Due to persistent exposure to lead-poisoned water, it’s estimated that 200 pregnant ladies either had miscarriages or stillbirths. An added 12 people died right after contracting Legionnaires' infection from the toxic water. And right now, a generation of children may exhibit lead-based behavioral problems, have diminished IQs, and suffer a lifetime of disabilities, all because their city wanted to save some money. And that decision seems rationalized and motivated by systemic racism.


This is unacceptable to Kuzma, who has been banging the drum hard for his hometown, trying with all his might to keep attention on Flint’s water crisis. He sent up the flare again on April 16, of this year, right after news broke that the United States could be donating funds to help rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris immediately after an electric fire set it ablaze. “I’ll mention this again,” he wrote on Twitter. “We got a city on our own soil without water.”


Kuzma cares about Flint — deeply. And segment of that care necessitates forcing the country to take a hard look at the people and places damaged by its systems.


Though he's learning to navigate life as a professional athlete, as a NBA star, and as an outspoken supporter, Kuzma is still just a kid from Flint. He talked with MTV News to discuss where he’s from, what he wants to do next, and why the young Laker finds a sense of hope in a global that would just as with little effort leave his hometown behind.


MTV News: You've been a very outspoken contributor for your house town and even took the ESPN cameras on a tour of where you grew up. You also discussed about what you're doing to help Flint get back on its feet. What was the community's response to that video?


Kuzma: You know, I'm not 100 percent sure. I certainly got feedback from friend and relative that mentioned it was good, although to me I think it portrayed a real ... Not only just my life, although just a perspective of Flint. It showed people what the city looks like, and showed how basketball and sports really do play a large role in the development of kids, and why sports can resemble, also it could will support you get out these kind of situations that you're in.


Obviously, Flint hasn't had water since 2014. However that's why I'm not a politician. And I don't play a role in what they do. Nevertheless that's certainly one of my goals: to maybe partner up with the state, the government, or any kind of company to really keep pushing this thing forward.


MTV News: Does it ever feel like people succumb to the idea that, "Of course a place like Flint is poor and has bad pipes," and in some ways those same people blame the ones who stay in Flint for not moving away? Why are so several people ready to accept Flint the way it is rather than believing that it can and should be a life-affirming place?


Kuzma: You shouldn't have to move from where you're from. We stay in a nation where we fix things. You shouldn't have move. For one, some people can’t. Especially in that community, several folks are very impoverished. Over 40 percent of the city is under the poverty line. So just “moving away” doesn't solve their problems. That's pretty much just quitting on the problem.


MTV News: Immediately following the Notre-Dame cathedral caught fire, and the Trump Administration promised to send cash and aid to help rebuild the church, you tweeted about how Flint still needs help with recovery and the Trump administration neglects its responsibility to American citizens. What motivated that tweet?


Kuzma: I just attempted to lose light on things that we do for other countries, and what we don't do for the people in communities in our nation. As soon as it's a serious thing or a mess or catastrophe anywhere else in the world, as a nation, we go out, we help the people in need. And that's most important to do, because at the end of the day, the United States is the most powerful nation in the world. I just believe that we should take a look at what's in our communities and our states. Fix the problems that we have first, to create us a higher end nation, and save the people here that aren't fortunate enough to have tidy water, or have issues in their own communities as well, not even speaking of Flint, however speaking country-wide.


MTV News: What would you like people to know about where you come from, about your community, about Flint, that might help neglectful outsiders visualize and keep your city and its people in your thoughts?


Kuzma: I think the largest thing is just knowing that Flint is a city In the United States. It’s no different than attempting to repair a highway, or a street with potholes. We do that in our communities. Why? Because we're delighted of where we live, and that's just what we should do for our whole nation. To prepare ensure to keep us the perfect nation in the world.


MTV News: The NBA as an association has been largely accommodating of social advocacy by players who are using their platforms to speak out on the issues of the day. This is naturally in contrast with other professional sports leagues, like the NFL. How much do you and other NBA players discuss social issues in the locker room?


Kuzma: A lot of times you have guys from the kind of environments that I grew up in, poor places, African American communities. Not even just that, just being raised In the
U.S. Overall. And we all talk about things that we aspire to do. We have some of the hugest platforms to talk for those people that don't have a voice. We talk about a lot of different things, from government-based things to what you're doing in your own hometown or city to help your people out as well.


I do a lot of work with the NBPA, the Player's Association. They do a wonderful job of backing us in the NBA and actually whichever we do within our foundations for charitable reasons. The NBA cares about where we come from, and what we wish to do, and around our philanthropist objectives and everything. That's one of the big things about our league, and how I believe that the NBA is the perfect league in all of sports. They really care. They really care about changing society, plus a lot of the things that's bigger than basketball with the NBA.


MTV News: That support feels like a stark contrast to the answer from NFL figureheads toward Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest against police brutality. As a fellow pro athlete and as a gentleman of color, what did his protest mean to you?


Kuzma: I mean, it means a lot. For Kaepernick to do that, it indicates to you that it's bigger than just cash, it's bigger than just the passion that you have for the game that you've been playing for your entire life. It's for what you stand for and your values in life. For a guy to literally risk it all for something that he believes in, that's very honorable, and several people in this world would not do that just because of how cash and everything runs us. It means a lot to... Certainly, not just any kind of athlete, however any man of color.


MTV News: Your teammate, LeBron James, has been a powerful source for change in Ohio. He's helped rebuild schools and begin community programs. Does he ever converse with you and other teammates about that?


Kuzma: LeBron does a fantastic job of leading by example on and off the floor. Naturally, he is a wonderful basketball player, yet one of his best qualities is his philanthropy and what he does for his community back in Akron, and what he does on the complete for communities is very commendable. For a guy to have as much as he has, he still cares about the people and never lets a stone go unturned, in terms of being an activist and speaking on key things. As a young guy, plus a young man of color, in this nation, it's very crucial to be able to see. He's a good north star to look at and attempt to get to.


MTV News: You launched a summer basketball program for children in Flint, which you mentioned was intended to prepare hope, to spread positivity, to create the children feel critical. Working with kids can have vast, unexpected rewards for the kids, for the community, and for you. So what have the kids taught you?


Kuzma: [Laughs] The kids taught me... that no matter what, you're habitually going to be a role model. Folks are looking up to you, so that indicates you've got to hold your weight along with hold your character. What you do on a day-to-day basis and what you stand for, what your reputation is, it matters. There really are people out there in the world that really care about you, and what you do and look up to you.


MTV News: What is giving you hope for the future these days?


Kuzma: Just the constant awareness. The constant conversation. We are discussing what can be done and what we are doing attempt to increase the world we reside in. The society that we reside in. That’s the largest thing that gives me hope. You can't get nothing in this world without conversation. You don't know what one individual is thinking, or what one order is thinking, then you're just going to be out of the mix, on everything. I want us to continue to have these conversations on the big, current event problems that we have. That’s my hope.


This interview has been edited for length.