Larry Nance Jr and Anthony Brown have been two of the young players who have opted to train directly with the Los Angeles Lakers’ training staff as opposed to other trainers
Upon drafting Anthony Brown with the 34th pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, I was arguably more excited than when the Lakers drafted Larry Nance Jr just seven spots above him at 27th overall. It seemed that the Lakers had finally begun to take their deficiency at small forward to heart and were looking for young players to fill the gap.
Looking at Brown’s tape, it appeared that he could potentially be the 3-and-D type player the team had been devoid of for so long. However, after last season he showed that he has a lot to work on, but that is to be expected of rookie, even more so from a second round pick.
Nevertheless, it was great news when, alongside LNJ, he started his offseason workouts early, hitting the gym just two weeks after the regular season ended… and he hasn’t stopped since then.
Once again, like Nance who had a similar video posted on the Lakers’ official NBA site, Brown is working directly with Lakers’ strength and conditioning coach, Tim DiFrancesco in order to bulk up and compete with the athletes that usually come along at the three position.
In regards to what exactly he’s working out, DiFrancesco pointed out that for Brown it starts with building a strong lower body.
"In particular he’s had some stuff with the hips that he’s had to take care of, that he does a great job of maintaining them.But now it’s a matter of, can we put some strength and some power behind those hips to where — whether we’re talking about lunge patterns, deadlift patterns, squat patterns — it’s a matter of building those hips slowly so they have this foundation so you then really show the power and the explosiveness that we’re trying to get."
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Anyone who lifts can attest to the importance of a strong lower body, never skip leg day, so to see that DiFrancesco is working towards building stronger bases for both Nance and Brown is a great sign.
Last season, despite having a plethora of open, makeable threes, especially from the short corner, Brown shot just under 29 percent from beyond the arc down practically 11 percent from his three point percentage at Stanford.
Seeing how the general consensus is that the shot starts and ends with the legs, it’ll be interesting to see how his increased stamina and leg strength affects his shot come next season.
The Lakers’ trainer also dished on what he thinks the future holds for Brown going forward.
"The amount of time that he’s spending, the quality of work that he does on a regular basis, there’s just no question in my mind that he’s on his way. I mean, he’s gonna feel different, he’s gonna look different when he gets out there for Summer League and beyond."
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This is all great news for the Purple and Gold who look to start fresh in life after Kobe Bryant but it’s great to see his work ethic reincarnated in his young heirs to the throne.