A Clear View Is Now Suddenly Full of Clouds

Under investigation for alleged sexual assault.

The words flashed across the Internet, through the Southland, into the Laker locker room, smothering the joy.

Under investigation for alleged sexual assault.

Scream.

Why this? Why now?

An organization that was soaring like an eagle has been dumped into the dark days of Eagle.

The ugly limbo finally vacated by Kobe was now apparently being inhabited by Kwame.

Do we really have to go through this again?

The news Tuesday was that Laker center Brown was the focus of a Los Angeles Police Department investigation into an alleged sexual assault.

One reaction was anger.

Another reaction, this one offered by the players, was weariness.

In a 114-97 loss to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs here, the Lakers’ series lead dropped to three-games-to-two, and their expressions fell.

They looked tired. They looked apathetic. They looked distracted.

“We are not distracted,” claimed Smush Parker afterward, surrounded by an unusually large horde of cameras after going one for seven. “We just didn’t come to play.”

Eighteen turnovers. Only one more rebound than the smaller Suns. Three individual technical fouls. Not distracted?

“No, that wasn’t it, we just came out flat,” said Luke Walton. “We told ourselves this was a game we had to win, but we didn’t play like it.”

Well, now they are indeed faced with a game they have to win, Thursday at Staples Center.

They do not want to play a deciding Game 7 back at the US Airways Center. Period.

“We need to calm down,” acknowledged Walton.

Indeed, the only Laker who was consistently engaged on both ends of the floor Tuesday was Bryant, and he was ejected late in the fourth quarter for arguing over the Suns’ flagrant fouls.

At least he showed passion, unlike Brown, the center of attention who wasn’t talking to the media, nor making much noise elsewhere.

The first time Brown touched the ball, he walked. Eleven minutes into the first quarter, he had three fouls. He ended up making all six of his shots, but he played mostly quiet and soft, with as many rebounds (three) as tiny Steve Nash.

“I’m sure this is a distraction for him,” said Coach Phil Jackson.

And, for both the kid player and his team, Tuesday’s bad-news buzz could be just beginning.

Now that the news is out, this investigation will hang over the heads of several players who have not yet faced such a burden.

It was a day for dozens of jutting microphones pointed at several dazed faces.

There were statements issued and lips sealed.

The gleeful amazement of Game 4 had been replaced by a tension that seemingly surrounded every game during Bryant’s trial two seasons ago.

That case ended in dropped charges, unanswered questions and a lesson for today.

The one thing we know about the Brown investigation is that we will probably never know.

We’ll probably never know what happened. We’ll probably never know if even anything happened. For now, it is silly to speculate or postulate.

The only thing for certain is that it is a stupid, needless and completely avoidable distraction.

“We have three priorities,” Jackson said. “Basketball, basketball and family.”

Here was a team that spent the last week epitomizing family, yet it’s leader now felt the need to announce that?

Not a good sign.

A different sort of sign was waved before the game by the Suns’ Gorilla mascot.

“Mission Possible,” it read.

It seemed silly at the time. Only seven teams in NBA history have pulled off a series comeback after trailing three games to one.

But after Tuesday’s wildness, anything is possible.

“We know we’ve been in every game, we know we could be leading the series,” said Sun Coach Mike D’Antoni. “Our guys are just fine.”

Well, not all of them are just fine.

During the fourth quarter Tuesday, the Suns’ Raja Bell put Bryant in a headlock and dragged him to the ground.

This spring the NBA has suspended players for less -- Miami’s James Posey was suspended for a bump -- so it would be stunning if Bell is allowed to dress Thursday.

No Bell could mean a whole lot of Bryant.

Already, there’s a whole lot of Laker anger over the play.

“We’re going back home, they’ll have to drive on us there ... and if that’s the way they want to play, we can play like we’re in the park,” said Lamar Odom.

But, then, the Lakers also have a lost guy, that being Brown, who doesn’t have ankle-sore Chris Mihm to back him up.

Brown issued a statement that read, in part, “I want to assure everyone that I am completely innocent of any wrongdoing.”

On a suddenly chilled spring night, assurances of any sort were the last thing the Lakers felt.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.