One is a 36-year-old longtime Laker who has been in the league since the turn of the century. The other is 25 but already a journeyman, having played for five different teams in four years.
In spite of the odds, both Metta World Peace and Thomas Robinson have made the Lakers’ opening night roster, surviving the final cut that brought a once 20-man squad to the NBA’s maximum of 15 players.
On Monday, the Lakers waived Yi Jianlian and Anthony Brown in a surprising move that let go of the team’s best-shooting big and the 34th-overall pick from last year’s draft.