Brown out this week

December 16th, 2007, 6:20 pm · Post a Comment · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM

LOS ANGELES — Shock of shocks, Kwame Brown isn’t coming back sooner than anyone initially expected.

They say sarcasm doesn’t come across well in written form. OK, let’s be frank: Brown has the unfortunate combination of being injury prone and slow to heal.

Brown isn’t going on the Lakers’ week-long trip that starts Tuesday night in Chicago. Phil Jackson had been planning on bringing him, but Brown hasn’t been able to get his sprained left knee back to the point where he could practice yet.

So the reasonable projection for Brown to return would be Dec. 28 against Utah. Brown was saying he wants to go with the team this week to Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York … because he’s bored at home without the guys.

“I want to go,” Brown said. “I’m sitting at home all day.”

There’s something else, though. the Lakers’ hard-working director of athletic performance Chip Schaefer — who was the Chicago Bulls’ athletic trainer all through their championship years — stays behind to rehabilitate players at home … and that’s really not the sort of entertaining time spent that Brown enjoys.

“You don’t want to stay back with Chip,” Brown said. “No fun.”

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