Our exit interview series on the 2026 Clippers continues with another former member of the team, forward Kobe Brown.
Basic Information
Height: 6’7
Weight: 250 pounds
Position: Power Forward
Age: 26
Years in NBA: 3
Key Regular Season Stats (for Clippers): 2.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.4 turnovers in 8.7 minutes per game across 34 games played (0 starts) on 39.3/26.5/80.8 (1.4 3PA, 0.8 FTA) shooting splits (52.4 True Shooting)
Expectations
The Clippers declined Kobe Brown’s fourth-year option before the season started, which indicated they didn’t see a future with him on the team. That has bitten teams in the past, but most of the time when teams do that, the player in question does not go on to punish them. It made sense for the Clippers to turn down Kobe’s option; he hadn’t played much his first two seasons with the team, and when he did, he was ineffective. Add in that the Clippers acquired John Collins to start at the 4, Kawhi had a healthy offseason, and the continued presence of Nic Batum, and there really wasn’t any room for Kobe at the forward position. He was not expected to factor into the Clippers’ season in any meaningful way, instead mostly serving in his usual garbage time/benchwarmer role.
Reality
The expectations, for once with the Clippers, more or less met reality. Kobe honestly probably played more than expected, as Kawhi Leonard, Derrick Jones Jr., and multiple guards were out simultaneously early in the season. In fact, Kobe played in nine consecutive games from November 20 through December 5, and logged more than 12 minutes in seven of them. That might not seem like much, but Kobe’s most consecutive games played for the Clippers in his prior two seasons was 10 in his rookie season, and the next most after that was 5. In short, there were stretches when Kobe was actually in the Clippers’ rotation due to injury, and he was mostly acceptable, albeit not good.
By the trade deadline, the Clippers had gotten healthier, and Kobe was out of the rotation once more. In early February, Kobe was sent along with Ivica Zubac to the Pacers as salary ballast and to keep rosters balanced. Kobe seemed to be a throw in, an afterthought. But that’s now how things played out. Kobe played in 27 games for the Pacers down the stretch (albeit for a tanking team) and started 10 while averaging 24.7 minutes per game. It was probably just small sample size, but Kobe was on fire for the Pacers from three after being a shaky shooter for his Clippers’ tenure, and also contributed as a rebounder and playmaker. The defense remained bad, and the Pacers were bad when Kobe was on the court, but he was legitimately productive for a sustained stretch in a way he never was for the Clippers. And you know what? Good for him!
Future with Clippers
Kobe is a free agent this summer, and it would be pretty shocking if he returned to the Clippers. While he was a widely liked teammate, the coaching staff made it clear they didn’t trust him to play actual minutes, and as a 26-year-old he’s no longer at an age to be considered a prospect to “stash” for development purposes. Honestly, I think there’s a fairly good chance he’s out of the NBA going forward, though he may have shown just enough on the Pacers to get him a minimum deal or a two-way contract. If any team would offer it to him, it would probably be the Pacers, who seemed to like him. Hopefully Kobe is able to stick around the NBA – I don’t think he’s an impact NBA player, but he’s a good guy and tries hard, and really did improve his play in Indiana. I will be rooting for him.