Kyle Kuzma has never been shy about wading into topics well outside the paint, but this week the Milwaukee Bucks forward found himself at the centre of a genuinely global storm — one that started with New York City's mayor and ended up tangled with Israel's prime minister.
The trigger was a video posted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressing Benjamin Netanyahu's expected appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September. In the clip, Mamdani called Netanyahu a 'war criminal,' said he was 'not welcome in New York City,' and acknowledged the city itself lacks the legal authority to enforce the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against him — while urging the federal government to act instead. The video spread fast, racking up tens of millions of views within days.
Kuzma, a nine-year NBA veteran, quote-posted the clip on X with a blunt three-word verdict: 'A mayor playing president.' He followed it with a longer post reading, in part: 'This is 2026. People cosplaying as things they don't have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be. Just for content.'
The exchange itself became a moment. Kuzma's remarks were reported to have pulled in close to 100 million views on X within five days, turning a basketball player's aside into one of the more widely discussed political flashpoints of the week.
Not everyone was convinced by the tone. A number of users suggested the phrasing read like it had been generated rather than typed by Kuzma himself, prompting the forward to respond with characteristic sarcasm: 'All my tweets are AI sourced from Chatgpt, guys... Let me just shut up and dribble.'
The episode carries an added layer for Israeli readers given Kuzma's history. He spent parts of three seasons with the Washington Wizards alongside Deni Avdija, the Israeli international forward, and the two built a genuine relationship that extended off the court, including a widely shared appearance by Kuzma at a Jewish wedding celebration.
Kuzma, who won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 before moving to Washington and then to Milwaukee in a February 2025 trade, has built a reputation as one of the league's more outspoken voices on social media, rarely shying away from commentary beyond basketball.
Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist who took office as mayor earlier this year, has made his position on Netanyahu a recurring public theme since taking City Hall. Neither his office nor Kuzma had issued any further comment on the exchange at the time of writing.
