INGLEWOOD — Kobe Brown slipped his jersey over his head and then tied up his shoes. He had already taken part in pregame shooting drills and met with Clippers coaches. The third-year power forward was ready to play.
Only, Brown isn’t fooling himself. He knows his minutes are going to be severely reduced this season as veterans Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum will be tabbed long before Coach Tyronn Lue looks far down the bench.
“I’ll just put my best foot forward. I keep an open mind. I don’t let all that (talk bother me). I don’t even look into all that honestly,” Brown said before Sunday’s preseason game against the Denver Nuggets.
“I just feel like what’s for me was for me, and if the team’s winning, I’m winning. I don’t look at it as a negative thing. I just do my job basically.”
Brown, the Clippers’ first-round pick in 2023, saw his career progressing over the past two seasons, averaging 19.3 minutes his rookie season and 20.3 minutes last season. His scoring average dipped from 7.0 points a game to 6.4 in his second season, but his rebounding increased as Lue depended on the 6-7 forward to give others a breather.
In his two seasons, Brown has played a total of 84 games, averaged 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds, while shooting 43.2% from the floor and 27.0% from 3-point range. His numbers might now show it, but Brown said he feels like he has progressed in his two seasons.
“Maybe not rotation wise, but I’m better than I was when I first got here,” he said. “As an individual, as a player, my skills set is way better now than it was then. So, personally or individually, I have progressed.”
Maybe not enough to quiet the speculation about his time in Los Angeles; some say Brown, who has two seasons of guaranteed money on his rookie deal, could be gone by the trade deadline. Lue is not one of them.
Brown suffered an ankle injury during Summer League, which set his off-season training back. But once healthy, Lue said Brown has been in the gym every day, putting in the work to stay ready.
In a brief stint in the Clippers’ preseason opener in Oceanside, Brown came off the bench and immediately pulled down three offensive rebounds.
“Kobe’s been engaged,” Lue said. “You saw him last game he played, came in, got three offensive rebounds in a row. Just his energy, the way he plays tough, the way he plays hard, we are going to need that some nights and so he’s being really good.”
Lue said early during training camp he wants to see more consistency from Brown, which could be difficult if his minutes dwindle. But he’s not hanging his head.
“Not at all,” he said. “I got friends and people back home who are in a far worse position than I am, and I’m just blessed to be here. Obviously, I’m not saying I don’t want to be in rotation, but I can never put myself down.
“At the end of the day, I’m in the NBA and I play basketball for a living. There are far worse things I could be doing right now. So, I just keep my best foot forward and my time. It’ll happen.”
Nuggets hold off Clippers in second preseason game
The Clippers played their second preseason game on Sunday against an NBA opponent, and the result was a surprisingly competitive contest.
The plays weren’t always well-executed, and passes were at times sloppy, but what the Clippers’ home opening preseason game lacked in finesse it made up for with intensity as the Denver Nuggets held off the Clippers for a 102-94 victory at the Intuit Dome.
The Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard posted 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, two rebounds, two steals and one assist in 19 minutes in the first half and sat the rest of the game.
Brook Lopez came off the bench to score 15 points, starting center Ivica Zubac had 11 points and 10 rebounds while Derrick Jones Jr. added 12 points. James Harden had a quiet night scoring-wise with five points, but handed out 11 assists.
Coach Tyronn Lue went deep on the bench late in the third quarter to close out the quarter as both teams looked to get their reserves minutes. Kobe Brown came into the game with 4:39 left in the third and had six points, four rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes.
Lue emptied the bench in the fourth, and the young players couldn’t hold onto the lead in the waning minutes.
The Nuggets were led by Aaron Gordon, who had 18 points and seven rebounds, and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic added 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.