Los Angeles Lakers forward Troy Brown Jr. has mostly been inconsistent throughout the 2022-23 campaign. But on Wednesday night, it was Brown who stole the show after he eviscerated Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker with an incredible two-way sequence that made the 23-year old Lakers forward look like a million bucks.
Booker has never been an easy cover. But Brown made defending him look like child's play. The Suns shooting guard tried to spin on the Lakers forward, but the ball came loose off of his hands. Brown, sensing blood, proceeded to strip the ball away as clean as a whistle from Booker after the Suns star tried to pull off a crossover.
While that was impressive enough on its own, Troy Brown Jr. proceeded to take the ball all the way to the other end of the court, detonating for a mean transition jam over Devin Booker to twist the knife ferociously down the Suns' star's guts.
TROY BROWN JR. SONS DEVIN BOOKER đą
pic.twitter.com/DFlS3Kt4BKâ Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) March 23, 2023
In fact, some even pointed out that Brown should have gone to the free throw line for an and-one.
SHOULD'VE BEEN AN AND-1 pic.twitter.com/eZhcfpsCAv
â Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) March 23, 2023
Troy Brown Jr. hasn't quite developed his off the bounce game. Or even his offensive game as a whole. He scored just six points in 25 minutes of action in what ended up being a 122-111 win for the Lakers over the Suns to help them keep pace in the tight Western Conference playoff race.
Nonetheless, he has quietly become one of the more underrated defenders and one of the more solid catch-and-shoot three-point marksmen in the Lakers squad. And this has not gone unnoticed in the eyes of Lakers fans.
Some fans on Twitter expressed their concerns every time Brown wasn't the primary defender on Devin Booker.
Vanderbilt and Troy brown on the bench for 8 mins while Booker iso shroder over and over smh
â Flexican (@MexicoAllen) March 23, 2023
Troy Brown has been good denying Booker the ball early in the shot clock and Vando has been bothering his shot. Nobody on the floor at the end of the 3rd or start of the 4th can do either for the Lakers https://t.co/JLgI8Gmu5l
â N.B.A Loverboy â¤ď¸ (@AlexAtTheTime) March 23, 2023
At the very least, it looks like the Lakers have unearthed yet another unheralded gem, which would be crucial for their future as they try to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis with solid role players akin to the ones they lost in their disastrous Russell Westbrook trade back in 2021. It's not too often that a player making the minimum could go toe-to-toe with someone like Devin Booker, let alone demolish him in such an enthralling sequence.