LOS ANGELES — There isn’t a greater team player in the NBA than the Knicks’ Ronnie Brewer, his former Bulls teammates will attest.
That will be put to the test soon if the slumping Brewer’s role changes as expected when Iman Shumpert returns to the lineup. Shumpert, who underwent offseason knee surgery, is edging closer to his season debut and could be cleared for practice after the Knicks return from their West Coast trip.
The way Brewer is bricking it, Shumpert should slide easily into the starting lineup in the Knicks’ three-guard alignment that has featured Brewer with Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd.
“I’m not the coach, I don’t know what’s going to happen when he comes back,’’ Brewer told The Post. “Hopefully we’re going to be a better team with Shump and Amar’e [Stoudemire] back.
“To be honest, I don’t worry about other players on the team as far as [affecting] my playing time. I can only control what I can do on the court. I don’t worry about my role when somebody comes back. I want him to come back healthy.”
Brewer, who hasn’t missed a game despite playing with a dislocated finger, has gone scoreless in five of the past 10 games, including the last two. His shooting percentage is down to 38.9 percent after a hot start. He also has been less noticeable making his trademark hustle plays.
Brewer, who was on target early in the season from 3-point range, has taken extra shooting after practice. Perhaps nobody needs new shooting coach David Hopla more. Brewer had surgery on his knee in September, which could be an issue.
“I’m missing shots, that’s why it’s gone down,’’ Brewer said. “That’s the only explanation. I was knocking them down early. I continue to put in extra work. They just haven’t been going in.”
Mike Woodson has acknowledged Brewer’s slump, but said it’s his job to give him “more love’’ now. Woodson has said Shumpert is “champing at the bit’’ to get cleared for contact practice.
* With the rescinding of his second technical foul from Friday night’s Bulls game, Carmelo Anthony no longer leads the league in technicals, but the NBA couldn’t take away his ejection.
“I wasn’t surprised,’’ Anthony said of the decision. “I was going to fight that one anyway. I’m glad they saw it. It wasn’t nothing. It would’ve just been a foul. Who knows what could’ve happened in that game [without the ejection].’’
* Jason Kidd led the NBA in 3-point shooting 10 days ago at 52-percent clip. But he’s dropped off dramatically, shooting 8-of-34 in the past five games to slide to 43.5 percent.
* Tyson Chandler, of Compton, Calif., was happy when the schedule came out with the Knicks in L.A. today.
“I’m just excited to spend Christmas with my family,” he said. “It’s been about 12 years I had opportunity to celebrate the holidays with my family and able to see my grandparents. It should be a lot of energy and excitement playing there.’’
* The Knicks will get their first look at Lakers point guard Steve Nash, who spurned the Knicks in the offseason and missed the teams’ first matchup earlier this month while he recovered from a broken leg.
“I’ve lived in New York the last 10 summers,” Nash told reporters. “I have a lot of friends in the city. I’ve always wanted to play for the Knicks. It was a really, really big option for me. Plus the fact they had a chance to be a contender. The No. 1 reason I signed [with the Lakers] was because I could see my kids. I’ve been back [to Phoenix] four times. The kids have been out here twice. That’s more than I could have gotten from New York to Phoenix in the whole season.”