Lakers Coach Mike Brown doesn’t plan to suspend Andrew Bynum

PHOENIX â€”  — Kobe Bryant sat out Saturday’s game against Phoenix because of a sore shin, but Lakers Coach Mike Brown was asked whether a different player would miss a game or two.

These are wild days for Andrew Bynum. Time for a suspension?

Not in Brown’s eyes.

He laughed at the logic that a player who gets ejected for picking up two technical fouls should be suspended. Bynum was hit with two and tossed from Friday’s game against Houston with 11 minutes 17 seconds to play.

“Then I should have suspended myself. I should have suspended Josh McRoberts and Matt Barnes,� Brown said, mentioning everybody from the Lakers ejected from games this season. “My good buddy [San Antonio Coach] Gregg Popovich should be suspended 16 times every year because of his tirades. I could go on down the line. I think if it’s a problem or it gets out of hand, a guy gets kicked out multiple times, then maybe, but he doesn’t even lead our team in technicals. Do I suspend him when he’s maybe fourth or fifth on our team in technicals? I don’t know if that makes sense.�

Bynum is actually second on the team, collecting six technical fouls. Bryant has nine. If a player gets 13 this season, he is suspended for a game. Bynum’s teammates have said patience is needed with the 24-year-old’s recent outbursts. Brown seems to think so too.

“Obviously you talk to him about it, but you take him in stride,� Brown said. “That’s part of the course of the season, in my opinion. You hope it doesn’t happen because we need everybody to be there on the sidelines, and obviously we needed Andrew [Friday] night Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.�

He loves L.A.

Shannon Brown is still asked about his Lakers days, even in Phoenix.

“That’s all I hear, man,� he said. “‘Why’d you leave the Lakers?’ or ‘Are you happy to be here?’ or ‘Do you miss the Lakers?’

“I definitely am appreciative and grateful of the time I was given there.�

The Lakers miss him too.

They haven’t had a true shooting guard to back up Bryant since Brown signed a one-year contract with Phoenix as a free agent in December.

They tried Jason Kapono, but it didn’t work. They tried rookie Andrew Goudelock, but he was dropped from the rotation last month. They’ve since used small forwards Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes — and sometimes even point guard Steve Blake — to try to fill space as Bryant’s backup.

Brown, 26, averaged 8.7 points last season and, of greater importance, a serviceable 19.1 minutes a game as Bryant’s backup. He played all 82 regular-season games two years in a row for the Lakers.

He started six consecutive games going into Saturday, averaging 15.3 points since taking over for injured starter Grant Hill. For the season, Brown was averaging 10.1 points before Saturday.

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