Lakers: The Case For Playing Anthony Brown

Anthony Brown has all but disappeared since the season began but if this season is really about developing the Lakers youth, there’s no reason for him not to be playing.

Anthony Brown made very brief fourth quarter appearances in two blow-out losses, but otherwise, he has not played at all through nine games. Depriving Brown of playing time is an enormous mistake that needs to be corrected.

As Lakers fans know by now, Brown played four years of college basketball at Stanford, where he consistently made better than 44 percent of his 3-point shots, led his team in rebounding, and was second in assists. Brown is also considered an excellent wing defender, which is one of the Lakers’ biggest weaknesses.

When the preseason began, no one knew if Brown would be in the rotation at all. He barely played in early preseason games, but when Kobe Bryant was injured, Brown suddenly found himself in the starting line-up for the last five preseason games. His confidence grew with each improved performance.

In the final preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, he was the lone bright spot for the Lakers, scoring 14 points, making five of six shots overall, three for three from behind the arc. Ordinarily, in the final preseason game, teams go with the rotation they intend to use at the start of the season, so there was every reason to believe Brown would see plenty of action in the regular season, even after Bryant returned.

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With that in mind, it hasn’t happened. For all intents and purposes, he has not played at all.

When the season began, the starting small forward was Bryant, his back up, Nick Young. When Bryant was injured, Metta World Peace got the call. World Peace is 35 years old, has been out of the NBA for nearly two years, and was not even expected to make the team. Surprisingly, he is doing well, which presumably means he has solidified his position not only on the squad, but in the rotation, even after Bryant returns.

Brown has the misfortune of playing this same position, which means he is behind Bryant, Young, and World Peace on the depth chart. Bryant is Bryant, which means when healthy he is going to play no matter what. If World Peace has been playing well, so, too, has Young, at least to the limits of his one dimensional game. Still, does this mean they should all play ahead of Brown and that he shouldn’t play at all?

There is confusion right now about what the Lakers’ primary goal is this year. Is it to win as many games as possible, or is it to fully develop the younger players to plan for the future? If it is the latter, there is no excuse for keeping Brown languishing on the bench. Since the owner and general manager are not talking, that leaves Scott to explain the goal to the media and the fans, but one week he says one thing while the next he says something else.

The Lakers have a record of 1-8 to start the season. They are going nowhere in the standings. They have virtually no chance of making the playoffs. So far, playing veterans like Lou Williams, Brandon Bass, Young, World Peace, and Bryant, has not translated into wins, nor will it if they keep playing.