Maccabi fans encourage the players as they go out to practice (Maccabi Tel Aviv's official website)
"We talk quite a bit. He always gives me smart advice and teaches me things. I want to be like Lorenzo Brown: not necessarily play in the exact same style, but move the ball like him, lead and manage the attack, put up numbers like his. Be MVP" .
The Maccabi Tel Aviv coordinator received these compliments a long time ago, when he doubtless imagined that he would become a star in the Euroleague.
And the person who gave him these warm words is not a casual groupie or a fan from the street, but his opponent in the battle for the ticket to the Final Four.
Tonight (Thursday, 9:15 p.m.), when Brown and Jordan Lloyd meet as opponents on the floor in Monaco, they will once again be forced to put aside for a moment their ancient and deep friendship.
More on the quarter-final series
Ketch: "We play more as a team, it took time to build this chemistry"
Minister of Defense?
I am?!
The tactical victory of Oded Ketch and Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv celebrated: "An exciting victory, there was a completely home atmosphere here"
Stop number 1: the high school
Both point guards grew up in Illinois;
Brown was born in Rockford, and Lloyd - who is three years younger than him - lived in Chicago, about 150 km away. Despite the age gap, they managed to play against each other in high school. "We were on opposing teams, and they always told me about him, but the truth is that I really knew him," Lloyd said in the past.
More in Walla!
B-Cure Laser in an experience sale at an unprecedented and exclusive price
Served on behalf of B Cure Laser
Lorenzo Brown vs. Jordan Lloyd (photo: official website, Elad Goldstein, Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Station number 2: The Development League
In 2017, they met again as rivals, this time in the G-League.
Fort Wayne, the development team of Indiana, defeated the Grand Rapids of Denver 119:126.
Brown scored 28 for the losers, but it wasn't enough against 21 by Lloyd and 30 by one, Alex Poithers.
Stop number 3: An exciting reunion in Canada
For their paths to finally come together, the two had to leave the borders of the United States and met in Toronto. Once they became teammates, or at least the club, their relationship deepened. Brown, after being named MVP of the J-League in 2018, finally entered to the team of the champion on the way; Lloyd came from Po'el Eilat to Canada, and was on the seam between the first team and the development team, Raptors 905.
In fact, Brown became a kind of mentor to him. He made sure to watch every game of his friend from Illinois, and every time he encountered the Canadian G-League players , was interested in his well-being. "We hang out together a lot, and he is an easy person to admire and draw inspiration from.
I wish I could get to where he got to," Lloyd continued to praise.
While Lorenzo Brown was named MVP in the Development League, he was playing in Eilat.
Jordan Lloyd (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
Station number 4: partners for a moment in the NBA
On October 29, 2018, it finally happened: Lloyd played in his first ever NBA game, and Brown was by his side.
The rookie got two minutes and didn't score in Toronto's loss to Milwaukee, and Mentor finished with five points in 19 minutes.
They managed to perform two more times together, before they broke up.
Lorenzo was cut in January and moved to China, while Lloyd stayed until the end of the season.
In the later stages of the G-League, he met a new partner: Wade Baldwin.
Station number 5: sharing a ring
In an unusual way, Lloyd and Brown finished the season with the most prestigious jewelry in the world of basketball: a championship ring from the NBA.
The Raptors won the historic title;
Brown, who made 26 media appearances before being released, was eligible for the award;
Lloyd, who did not see the field at all in the playoffs, was part of the staff and even became an icon.
Within the club he received credit that between the games in the finals series against Golden State, he played a substantial part in training;
His task was to resemble Steph Curry, so that the players would practice guarding him.
He also had a public part in the success: Lloyd was the "random guy in a suit" who celebrated with Kawhi Leonard his memorable buzzer-beater in the decisive Game 7.
Then, at the championship parade, he arrived with a shirt bearing exactly this slogan - Random guy in a suit.
The first to recognize: Lloyd Brown in "Seinfeld"
Station number 6: Rivals in Europe
After these celebrations, the two moved to Europe and since then have met quite a few as rivals.
While Lloyd was playing for Valencia, Brown was in charge of Red Star Belgrade.
And when Brown left for Fenerbahce, Lloyd filled his place in Serbia.
Last year they met in Russia, in the uniforms of Onyx Kazan and Zenit St. Petersburg, until the war in Ukraine caused them to make another relocation.
Only one of the two will reach the Final Four in Kaunas.
Yesterday, in the first game of the playoff series, they were far from reaching their potential.
Brown returned from a 12-day layoff with an ankle injury, while Lloyd went 0-for-6 from three and a minus-6 in his first game as a father.
In the week leading up to the contest, he was in the US with his wife.
"We've known each other for so many years, and he's like a family member to me," Brown tells Walla!
sport.
"I know Jordan will be crazy for the next game. You can't fall asleep in front of him, because he can do everything: lead the ball, score from the outside, penetrate the basket. He has a huge part in the puzzle that Monaco put together this season. We talked before the first game and I congratulated him on the birth, And we will remain friends. But on the field I am ready to take his head off."
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Lorenzo Brown
Jordan Lloyd
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball