Jackson puts the onus on Brown as the starter

Ready or not, Kwame Brown will be back in the Lakers’ starting lineup.

“Unless Wilt [Chamberlain] comes back from the dead, I don’t know what else we’re going to do,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s going to have to handle the starting job.”

Andrew Bynum left Sunday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of a sprained left knee, which meant Brown would take center stage for a while. A timetable for Bynum’s return was expected to be provided today by Lakers officials after an MRI exam this morning.

Brown, in the last year of a contract that pays him $9.1 million this season, has averaged 5.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in eight games since returning from a sprained left knee and ankle that sidelined him for 19 games.

He had three points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in 26 minutes against Memphis. He made one of five shots and one of four free throws.

With Bynum sidelined for a to-be-determined period and Chris Mihm out one to two more weeks because of a sore right Achilles’ tendon, Ronny Turiaf will be the backup center.

“Ronny’s perfectly capable . . . he had a lot of minutes last year as a backup role at our center spot,” Jackson said.

Jackson was surprisingly reserved a few weeks ago when asked if Bynum would lose his starting job when Brown returned from injury. He didn’t hedge when asked the same thing before Sunday’s game.

“His productivity, you just can’t turn away from that as a coach,” Jackson said of Bynum. “He’s just too productive to not have him on the floor. This is the right thing to do and we’re producing.”

Bynum is averaging 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots a game.

The starting spot at small forward is more settled.

Luke Walton has distanced himself from Trevor Ariza as the starter, primarily because of his defense, Jackson said.

“I’ve been very pleased with the way Luke’s been defending guys -- [Andre] Iguodala, [Rudy] Gay, a variety of players that he’s been matched up against that are athletic, active, young scorers,” Jackson said.

Gay had 11 points on five-for-19 shooting Sunday.

Kobe Bryant became the 44th player in league history with 1,000 three-pointers when he made one with 2:10 left in the second quarter against Memphis.

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TONIGHT

at Seattle, 7, Ch. 9

Site -- Key Arena.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records -- Lakers 25-11, SuperSonics 9-27.

Record vs. SuperSonics -- 1-0.

Update -- The SuperSonics have lost six in a row.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com