Among plenty of topics that covered Los Angeles Basketball, between the Clippers and Lakers, and several other teams, Zach Lowe, on a recent, highly anticipated episode on “The Zach Lowe Show,” referenced the disaster around Brook Lopez perfectly, as he describes the one-time All-Star as a player who grew much older, rapidly, overnight.
Lopez, on his own, gave Lowe the green light to phrase his decline as he did. In a concerning way, the backup big man quite literally looks like he is moving ten steps behind everyone else, explaining why several of his shot contests are late.
Additionally, Lowe evaluated how Lopez performed in a loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as Kenny Atkinson’s mid-game assignment changes gave them extra energy that ultimately produced momentum.
However, Tyronn Lue had the same takeaways as Lowe, explaining why a specific decision was made against the Lakers in the last game of a seven-game road trip.
Tyronn Lue finally made the long-awaited decision to DNP Brook Lopez
Zach Lowe provided a precise analysis of Brook Lopez’s performance on the Cleveland Cavaliers, following the number of times he got switched on and cooked by DeAndre Hunter and Nae’Qwan Tomlin. In fact, Lopez had the game’s lowest plus-minus of -24, and went scoreless in 11 minutes.
Furthermore, Tyronn Lue did not even give Lopez a chance to respond and bounce back from such a horrific showing. Instead, Lue delivered a much more severe consequence: ensuring he does not step foot on the court in the Battle of LA, on the road.
The LA Clippers still lost, but because Deandre Ayton was out, and all he had to worry about was Jaxson Hayes, Lue informed Nicolas Batum that Lopez’s minutes were going to him, and that he should be ready to hustle tirelessly in a small-ball lineup.
Batum may have had only two three-pointers and three rebounds in 25 minutes. Yet he was in the right place at the right time through several possessions and demonstrated his versatility by guarding multiple positions.
Had Lopez played, even if it was the bare minimum, Luka Doncic’s eyes would have lit up, and the 43 points he finished may have exceeded 50.
That said, as absurd as it sounds, Lowe is not exaggerating when mentioning Lopez’s unexpected, fast aging. It is a rare case, and because the Clippers’ backup experienced it, Lue may only be able to play Batum for the near future.