There are franchises where it is complicated for a rookie to find playing time. This is the case every year, or almost with the Clippers. With the exception of Brandon Boston in 2022, who took advantage of the injuries to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, to earn 15 minutes per game, over 51 games, the rookies are little used. This was the case, for example, of Terance Mann who only played 360 minutes in 2019/20.
This is the fate that is promised to Kobe Brown, selected in 30th position in the 2023 Draft. For a month, this “old” 23-year-old rookie only played parts of the match, when the match was over. And then, on November 29, Tyronn Lue approached him, and warned him that he would play him the next day against the Kings.
“It was something like, 'Are you ready to play tomorrow?' » » he remembers. “We were at dinner and it was in the discussion. I was there saying, “Of course coach, as always!” » But I didn't think anything of it. Obviously, I was a little excited, but as long as there's nothing concrete, I'll continue doing what I usually do.”
The next day, Lue preferred him to PJ Tucker, and Brown played the last three matches. Certainly, his playing time is not huge (between 6 and 11 minutes), but he proves that he has his place in the NBA. “The G League helped me a lot,” he admits all the same. “We do the same thing as with the 'big team', but the matches are much slower, at least in my opinion. Which makes it much easier to understand the things we do. When we come back from the G-League, it's like everything is less rushed for me. That’s what was most important to me, really.”
Advice from Draymond Green
To help him move from one team to another, he can count on the kindness of Lue, but also the support of Mann, ready to answer all his questions.
“He will make mistakes, we are aware of that,” assures Lue. “The most important thing is to learn from your mistakes and improve. But I mainly focused on the defensive side, on him understanding the rotations and the way we need him to play. We know he’ll be able to make shots.”
He was treated to the same speech a few days ago from an opponent. And it wasn't just anyone since it was Draymond Green.
“He told me to keep shooting because if we stop it will be difficult to start again,” Brown reports. “He told me to keep shooting, not to let the missed shots get to me because he did the same thing, and so on. It was really cool to meet him.”
