LOS ANGELES — Kyle Kuzma stood at the scorer’s table in the moments before Friday’s game, the former Laker ready to take on his old team for the first time since being traded this summer.
The setting was the same but so much has changed since he left.
He headed onto the court and was first met by LeBron James. The two former teammates, men who won a championship together, embraced. Then it was nothing but quick handshakes for the other four Lakers on the court.
It wasn’t bad blood — Kuzma never even played a second with any of them.
But as far as constants go, even in the face of chaos, you could do a lot worse than James, who again was sensational.
After his sixth three-point shot of the game, all the Wizards could do was call timeout to try to take cover from an avalanche of points. As players from both teams headed for the huddles, James prowled up and down the sideline while the crowd roared.
He put fingers to the side of his head to signal that he had just went crazy. Minutes later, he left the court while fans chanted “M-V-P.”
James scored 50 points in a 122-109 victory over the Washington Wizards — the second time he’s done that in a week. Both came in the team’s only two wins since the All-Star break.
“I just feel really good,” James said after the game.
In his last two home games, James has scored 106 points combined — he had 56 against Golden State earlier in the week.
With the Crypto.com Arena crowd in a lull, the Lakers early nine-point lead long erased, James put the Lakers on his back and led a throwback surge, showcasing every piece of his offensive arsenal.
“Laker faithful knows when bad basketball is being played and when good basketball is being played,” James said.
He reminded them of the latter.
He soared for a dunk like he had swiped Ja Morant’s calves. He owned the mid-range like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And, for good measure, he stepped back to Stephen Curry range and drilled a deep triple.
It all came during a 19-point third quarter when he scored a dozen straight to put the Lakers back in control of the game — a win he would seal with in the fourth quarter with 14 more points, including a turnaround over Kuzma that rained down from high in the air.
The shot was so tough that all Kuzma could do after it splashed through the rim was look at James and laugh.
“The league’s never seen a player at this stage of his career doing what he’s doing,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “…It’s just unbelievable.”
With James on fire, his teammates fed off the energy. Taylor Horton-Tucker slammed home a dunk on Kuzma, Malik Monk scored 21 on 12 shots and Austin Reaves slashed from the corners — the Lakers outscoring Washington by 20 in the second half.
“It felt good because it was an all-around team effort,” James said.
Kuzma led the Wizards with 23 points while former Lakers Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was quiet, the Lakers holding him to just four. The Lakers honored the two with a video tribute at the first timeout in the first quarter.
“They’ll always be family,” Vogel said pregame. “We won a championship together.”
