Last season, Spencer Dinwiddie played 44 games for the Washington Wizards before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. A lot has happened since, including Dinwiddie reaching the Western Conference Finals with Dallas before being traded back to the Brooklyn Nets in February. Yet, Dinwiddie still has the Wizards and former teammate Kyle Kuzma on his mind.
Kuzma tweeted “The funny thing is they don’t play winning basketball,” following a Wizards win over the Mavericks back in January.
Appearing on FanDuel TV, Dinwiddie broached several topics, including responding to Kuzma’s tweet.
“What’s that thing Draymond [Green] just said, where he said, ‘insecurity is loud,’ we lost to them. I was on the Mavericks. Obviously, we have an MVP-caliber guy, and we’re trying to be a championship-caliber team that just went to the Western Conference Finals… so I make a statement about we need to be better. Understanding the culture and how games are kind of played in D.C., saying that’s an unacceptable loss in that fashion. He decides to respond because I guess he felt like it was a shot at him,” Dinwiddie said on Run It Back.
Dinwiddie said he didn’t immediately respond because his agent told him to stand down and focus on making the team better. Now that he is a member of the Nets, he can take the time to address Kuzma. He did so with a blazing rant.
“Now I’m not in that environment,” Dinwiddie said. “I’m in the playoffs. He’s not and you know… I’m just saying to address a socialite, right? Like there’s a lot of guys in the NBA that really poured their heart and soul into basketball, [and] are willing to do whatever it takes to win. There are a lot of guys that have different things that drive them and motivate them.
“I think if we look at you know him in the way he approaches life, fame, all that stuff that we can see that you know, his priorities tend to vary, Dinwiddie continued. “That’s why [he] dressed the way he does, approaches basketball the way he does, the comments he makes.”
Kuzma has embraced fashion off the court. But he also has emerged as one of the top three options next to three-time All-Star Bradley Beal and the seven-foot Kristaps Porzingis. This season, Kuzma averaged a career-high 21.2 points, which was third on the Wizards team, on 10.3 field goal attempts per game.
Spencer Dinwiddie seemingly is not impressed.
“You know that you’re there, shooting shots to try to get a contract,” Dinwiddie continued. “You’re probably not even a third star really on a good team. Because if you were, the Lakers would have kept you. Part of the reason you left was trying to make more money.”
Dinwiddie rhetorically asked how the Wizards missed the postseason with three max-caliber players unless the team’s priorities were not in order with winning.
Aside from speaking on Kuzma and the Wizards, Dinwiddie is preparing with the nets for their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. In 22 games since being traded to Brooklyn, Dinwiddie is averaging 16.5 points and 9.1 assists. His presence with Mikal Bridges has made the Nets attractive to watch.
Meanwhile, Kuzma expects to opt out of his $13 million player option for the 2023-24 season and become a free agent. In the meantime, the eyes of the basketball world will be looking to see if the 6-foot-10 forward responds to Dinwiddie.
