Lakers Rookie Jordan Clarkson Back With Steve Nash

"We didn't have practice," Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott said after the team let out of its Wednesday session. "We had too many guys banged up. Jeremy (Lin) couldn't practice today. He had a thigh contusion. Wesley (Johnson) got kicked in the calf last night, so he couldn't really go today."

Instead, the Lakers spent the day getting up shots after the team took its annual team photo. This year, everyone showed up, save for Steve Nash, who did not appear in a single regular season game.

Following a victory against the Detroit Pistons, a day to get shots up and heal did not sound like an altogether terrible idea. Snapping a five-game losing streak brought smiles to faces and a lighthearted atmosphere in the locker room.

"Yea, probably," Lin answered when asked if he expected to play on Thursday night against the New York Knicks. He quickly added, "Unless something crazy happens overnight."

New signing Jabari Brown also expects to earn time against New York. Brown is on a 10-day contract and should provide an added scoring punch off the bench with Nick Young still sitting out with a sore left knee. Although Scott would prefer to get Brown a practice session before throwing him onto the court, the Lakers' coach said the player had been schooled on schemes on Tuesday, so he will be afforded a chance to shine on Thursday.

"I just told him, 'Just stay in the gym. Keep getting work in because you never know when your name is called, and you got to be ready to produce when you're called on,'" standout Lakers' rookie Jordan Clarkson shared the advice he gave Brown, his former college roommate.

For Clarkson, the light Wednesday session led in perfectly to his night meeting with Steve Nash, or "Professor Steve," as the rookie called him on Tuesday night. Around the time Kobe Bryant's torn rotator cuff was being discovered, Clarkson and Nash were arranging their first private sessions of the season.

Nash reached out to Clarkson, but Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak had planted the seeds and watered the flowers over monthly breakfast meetings. To be fair, the rookie spent time working out with Nash before the season, so the idea of the pair of point guards working together did not exactly turn up mid-season. In a perfect world, Clarkson would probably have been watching Nash operate for the first half of the season before stepping onto the court. Everything considered, no one is complaining about Clarkson's development these days.

"I worked out with Steve (Nash) for a week, week and a half, here at the facility," Clarkson said the point guard duo did late off-season work prior to the start of training camp. 

The regular seasons sessions, however, had been more film oriented with one memorably intense physical workout over the All-Star break.

Between the rookie point guard getting in-game advice from Kobe Bryant on the bench and off-day individual tips from Nash, Clarkson could not help but marvel at his unique opportunities in only his first year in the NBA: "It's just a blessing. You couldn't write a book better than the one I got right now. I'm happy to be here with this organization."

Asked how that book would end, the 22-year-old Clarkson laughed and said, "Who knows? We'll see."