NBA player Jabari Brown was reportedly waived by the Los Angeles Lakers Monday.
General Manager Mitch Kupchak confirmed the news in an announcement, according to the official NBA website.
The 22-year-old shooting guard reached out to his 15,000+ followers on Twitter with an encouraging message in response to the saddening news.
God got me im built for it
— Jabari Brown (@Bari_BrownIDF) October 26, 2015
During the recent preseason, Jabari Brown appeared in six different games for the Los Angeles Lakers — averaging 14.3 minutes per match-up.
When it came to his stats, Jabari averaged 6 points and 1.5 rebounds. The former Missouri Tiger averaged nearly 12 points, 2 assists and almost 2 rebounds per game throughout the 19 games that he played for the Lakers in the 2014-15 season.
According to Lakers Nation , the Los Angeles Lakers needed to trim their team roster down to 15 players before the 2015-16 season officially starts.
Michael Frazier, Jonathan Holmes, and Robert Upshaw had already been waived by the team — leaving one more cut on the table.
Since Brown signed a multi-year contract back in April with the Lakers, many fans and critics assumed that Metta World Peace would be the next one to go.
However, the 6’7? forward is apparently still staying in a Lakers jersey for now, since he was listed on the team’s official roster. Jabari Brown started his college basketball career by playing for the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon.
However, it was not long before he became a Missouri Tiger after transferring to the University of Missouri.
In April, 2014, Brown decided to forego his final year of college eligibility by declaring that he would enter the NBA draft .
Brown opened up about his thoughts and feelings about entering the draft in a June, 2014, interview with the Kansas City Star .
“It’s been a long ride, but I’m enjoying the process… I’m blessed to be in this situation and having that many people want to see you… I just want to go somewhere I can come in and compete for minutes as a rookie. Hopefully, it will be a good team. But anywhere I go, I want to make the best of it and the most of it. I’m not too picky.”
Even though he was not selected in the 2014 NBA Draft, Jabari Brown apparently did not allow that to slow him down. After playing for the Houston Rockets in the 2014 NBA Summer League, Jabari was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, the Lakers decided to waive Jabari for the first time on October 25, 2014.
Less than a week later, he was signed as an affiliate player by the Los Angeles D-Fenders. His overall performance playing in the D-League grabbed the attention of the Los Angeles Lakers once again — especially his D-League season high score of 50 points in a January, 2015, game against the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
With the Lakers suffering numerous injuries within their roster, according to the NBA , the team was able to use a hardship exemption to sign Jabari Brown to the first of two 1o-day contracts in March.
Wouldn’t be surprised if someone picked up Jabari Brown, a talented scorer due for a break. https://t.co/VqXM5KpAmB
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) October 26, 2015
Lakers will try to sign Jabari Brown + Robert Upshaw to their D-League affiliate, the LA D-Fenders, whose camp is still a few weeks from now
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 26, 2015
Man honestly forget metta no way way Jabari brown should of got cut. Best 3 point shot was a 12 ppg player off the bench and 1 yr in
— Bosse Allen (@oSOBaSicBosse) October 26, 2015
In his 2014-15 exit interview , Jabari Brown claimed that having to wait to be called up to the NBA “was definitely one of the hardest things.” However, he further explained that his basketball career “hasn’t been all glitz and glamour” and that his past “ups and downs” prepared him.
[Image Credit: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images]