Lakers' Kyle Kuzma says media doesn't understand his friendly jabs with Lonzo Ball

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Kyle Kuzma said he and Lonzo Ball are "all good" and that the two Los Angeles Lakers friends and teammates were just having fun with their back and forth on social media.

Kuzma, appearing at the NBA Awards show, was asked what his reaction was to Ball releasing a rap diss track titled "Kylie Kuzma" earlier this month.

"My reaction is it's we are all good," said Kuzma, who talked to the media for the first time since Ball released the song. "We all joke. It happens, it's what we do. I feel like, you know, the media, they don't understand the culture that we live in. For us, we are good."

Throughout their rookie season, Kuzma and Ball exchanged friendly jabs on Twitter and Instagram as they roasted one another over anything from fashion sense to eating habits. They also did the same with teammates Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart. Ball and Kuzma said they never take anything personally and that they know what boundaries not to cross.

But the Lakers spoke to both players about toning things down after Ball's rap diss track, which included a lyric about Kuzma not knowing his biological father. That rap song came after Kuzma did a "Player Hater of the Year" award video in jest with Bleacher Report that made jokes at Ball's expense. The Lakers, sources said, had grown concerned and wanted to make sure things didn't escalate or get personal.

Hart and Kuzma say that the young Lakers players are fine and that not everyone understands their roasting habits.

"No, it didn't escalate," Kuzma said when told that some might've interpreted the video and rap song as the roasting escalating.

Nick Young, who was caught up in the social media video controversy with D'Angelo Russell when the two were Lakers teammates in 2016, pleaded for people to not read too much into Ball's and Kuzma's friendship and to let the two Lakers have fun.

"The track was pretty good, but I am kind of mad because I wanted to do a diss track on Draymond Green and he kind of beat me to it," said Young, who won a championship with Green and the Warriors this season.

"They are just kids having fun. ... I thought they were just playing around," Young said. "Me and Draymond have been like that all year. I think they are just enjoying their moment right now. Don't stop them. Y'all gonna mess them up. I think y'all gonna make them fight. They are just having fun."