Kobe Brown

Brown grew up in Huntsville, Alabama and attended Lee High School.^[1] He averaged 20.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists and was named first team All-State as a junior.^[2] Brown repeated as a first team All-State selection and was named the Huntsville Region Player of the Year after averaging 24.1 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists per game during his senior season.^[3]

Brown was rated a four-star recruit and initially committed to play college basketball at Texas A&M during his junior year of high school.^[4] He decommitted as a senior and re-opened his recruitment.^[5] Brown ultimately signed to play at Missouri over offers from Minnesota, Penn State and Vanderbilt.^[6]

Brown played in all 30 of Missouri's games with 26 starts during his freshman season and averaged 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds.^[7] He averaged eight points and 6.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore.^[8] Brown was named second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) after leading Missouri with 12.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.^[9][10] He was a first-team All-SEC selection and the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior.^[11]

Brown was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft with the 30th overall pick.^[12] The 2023 NBA Summer League boasted two players vying to be the second player to play in the NBA named Kobe (the other was Kobe Bufkin). Both were named after Kobe Bryant, although this is debated by Bufkin's family.^[13] Brown debuted in the Los Angeles Clippers' first game of the season on October 25 against Portland without scoring in five minutes and 18 seconds of play.^[14] Throughout his rookie and sophomore seasons, he has been assigned several times to the Ontario and San Diego Clippers.^[15][16]

On February 5, 2026, Brown and Ivica Zubac were traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks and a second-round pick.^[17]

Brown's father, Greg Brown, was his coach at Lee High School and played collegiately at Athens State University.^[18] His younger brother, Kaleb, played basketball at Missouri and was his teammate for his final two seasons at the school.^[19]