Lakers News: Troy Brown Jr. Applauds New Teammate LeBron James For This Skill

Brown has been a solid two-way addition to the Lakers' starting lineup.

Los Angeles Lakers starting small forward Troy Brown Jr. seems like he's been a fan of teammate LeBron James's game for a good long while. 

Specifically, the 6'6" swingman truly appears to appreciate the way the 18-time All-Star forward can read the floor, often making predictive passes that are predicated on an intimate knowledge of teammates' abilities.

Troy Brown Jr. explains what’s it like seeing LeBron anticipate a play before it happens, and gives an example of it from the Pelicans game (see second clip for what he’s describing) pic.twitter.com/HG0VGUDbyt

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 4, 2022

Here's the pertinent quote:

"I think for me personally, just watching it from the outside, it definitely looks kind of crazy, but then once you kind of get to know 'Bron, and you know how he plays, and how decisive he is, I've seen a lot of clips of Iman Shumpert talking about him moving... It really is like that because everybody knows their role and he knows what everybody's good at, even the one play where he went, pump-faked on Zion and threw it to Russ -- he's seen it before it even happened. You go back and watch it, you can see him see it, and so it's pretty crazy, just that IQ he has, with the skill level he has."

Here's the clip, highlighting the moment to which Brown is referring:

LeBron ➡️ Westbrook 🔥

📲 https://t.co/MuTuX7Mpyrhttps://t.co/yfLHSviDQy

— NBA Latam (@NBALatam) November 3, 2022

James remains one of the NBA's great passers, a skill that has not eroded at all over time (he is playing his 20th season in the league).

Brown, 23, was first drafted with the 15th pick by the Wizards in the 2018 draft out of Oregon. After spending three seasons as an intriguing bench player in D.C., Brown was shipped out to the Chicago Bulls as a throw-in piece in the team's deal for Otto Porter Jr. Brown didn't manage to make much of an impression in Chicago, averaging 18.2 and 16.0 minutes a night during his two seasons there. 

Currently with L.A. on a veteran's minimum contract, Brown has emerged as an incredibly valuable contributor this season, lapping Juan Toscano-Anderson (whom this writer figured would have more of an impact) to nab the starting small forward role with the Lakers, with James shifted up to power forward. In 26.2 minutes a night, he is averaging 9.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and an assist through his first six games, starting the last four.