Waiting game continues for Brown
LATIMES
Phil Jackson has given up trying to pinpoint when Brown will be back from a tender left ankle that has forced him to miss 33 of the last 48 games.
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson reached into his pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief.
He had been asked a question about the health of Kwame Brown.
"Want to give that to him?" Jackson said sarcastically.
Jackson also could have chosen to wave the handkerchief as a sign of surrender: Coaches have given up trying to pinpoint when Brown, an important part of the Lakers' interior defense, will be back from a tender left ankle that has forced him to miss 33 of the last 48 games.
He aggravated a sprain and a bone bruise in the ankle when Denver center Marcus Camby stepped on it last week. The months-long saga continued Thursday when Brown showed up to the Lakers-Clippers game wearing a walking boot, following doctor's orders.
There are shoulder shrugs from almost everybody when Brown's condition is brought up. Even from Brown.
"If it feels better today, I'll get on a plane" to Phoenix, he said. "Maybe I'll play the last two games. I don't know."
The Lakers have three regular-season games left — at Phoenix tonight, at home Sunday against Seattle and at Sacramento on Wednesday.
Brown's numbers aren't spectacular — he averages 8.3 points and 6.1 rebounds — but he adds bulk and muscle down low defensively.
"If he wants to help us," Jackson said, "it's really important he figures out a way to do it."
Waiting game continues for Brown
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