SAN ANTONIO -- James Harden has a powerful voice around the Houston Rockets. Harden, the face of the franchise, asked general manager Daryl Morey to take a look at guard Bobby Brown, who was bouncing around internationally.
Morey elected to give Brown, 32, a chance.
And with the Rockets now at decision time regarding their final 15-man roster, the Los Angeles native could make the cut.
“It means a lot,” Brown said of Harden following a 114-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, when he scored 23 points and had nine assists. “He has trust in me as far as my game, he knows the type of person I am. I’m a team guy. It’s just our overall camaraderie together -- me, him and Trevor [Ariza]. We’re all like best friends because we’re all from L.A. We know how to take care of each other, take criticism from each other, tell them what they don’t want to hear, and they can live with it. It means a lot coming from the best point guard/2-guard in the league.”
In Friday’s preseason finale against the Spurs, coach Mike D’Antoni was looking for some offense, and he gave Brown significant minutes -- a game-high 31.
“I thought he played really well,” D’Antoni said.
The Rockets have some issues at the guard position with Patrick Beverley out possibly until early December with a left knee injury.
D’Antoni said Beverley’s injury complicates things in terms of finalizing the roster. Houston traded for Tyler Ennis, a point guard who will get limited minutes during the regular season. But with Beverley out, D’Antoni might stick with a stretch-4 in Kyle Wiltjer, who struggled on Friday night, scoring just two points while taking six shots, or keep Brown.
“I hope so,” Brown said regarding his chances to make the roster. “That’s what I try to do every game, every chance I get in practice, the locker room, try to be a great teammate and doing stuff off the court as well.”
When the Rockets were in China for a week, Brown caused a stir when he wrote his name on the Great Wall of China, considered disrespectful by many. Brown apologized and has been pretty quiet until Friday night’s performance.
Houston didn’t bring Harden or Eric Gordon to the Spurs game, allowing players such as Brown the opportunity to make a case for themselves.
The last time Brown played in the NBA was the 2009-10 season for the Los Angeles Clippers. Since that time, Brown has played in Greece, Poland, Germany, Italy, China and Turkey.
He’s also had two summer league stints with Portland and Toronto.
This is probably one of the better chances he’s had to make an NBA roster.
“I know what type of style we play,” Brown said. “It fits my game perfectly. As far as the spot minutes, if that was to come to me, I would know what to do in those minutes. But [Friday] I got to play a lot more than usual and showcase everything -- passing, rebounding, scoring. Hopefully, I did a good enough job to stay here, but we’ll just have to see what happens.”