March 1 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Lakers rookies Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball recently had an impromptu dunk contest at practice in Miami.
The Lakers posted a video of the showdown on Wednesday from a community center in the city. Kuzma began the friendly competition by throwing the ball off of the backboard and attempting a windmill. But the rim stuffed his shot. Ball laughed before tossing the ball off of the backboard himself and catching it, before completing the same dunk.
Kuzma answered back with a baseline windmill. Ball's next attempt went haywire when he came in from the right side, attempting to throw in a 360-degree slam. But the rim rejected his attempt as well. Kuzma's next try included a few failed bounces, before Ball converted on his 360-jam.
After reviewing the tape on Twitter, Ball had a dis for his teammate's poor start.
Wednesday Throw Downs 🔨 pic.twitter.com/L0KhXgi6dz
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 28, 2018
"@kylekuzma that first attempt looks worse on camera," Ball tweeted.
Awful lol https://t.co/cwXcZeZwTU
— kuz (@kylekuzma) February 28, 2018
"Awful lol," Kuzma responded.
The display came days after Ball was recorded while battling rapper Bow Wow in a shooting contest. Ball won two out of three games against the recording artist.
But Wednesday's practice wasn't all fun and games for the Lakers. The team lost rookie small forward Josh Hart to a fractured fourth metacarpal on his left hand at the session. He will have the hand further evaluated. Hart was averaging 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in 20 starts.
Ball is averaging 10.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and seven assists per game this season. Kuzma is posting 15.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Ball was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft, while Kuzma was the No. 27 overall pick and Hart was the No. 30 overall pick.
