Denver Nuggets wing Bruce Brown is currently in the 2023 NBA Finals awaiting the winner of the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Eastern Conference Finals series. While Game 1 of the finals isn’t until Thursday, Brown has been keeping himself busy in different ways other than preparing himself to perform on the biggest stage of his five-year NBA career.
In a recent appearance on The Dan LeBatard Show, Brown addressed various things such as what led to his departure from the Brooklyn Nets at a time when the team needed Brown and his versatility he brought to a lineup without much depth around Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. In Brown’s last season in Brooklyn, the 2021-22 season, he averaged 9.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game on 50.6% shooting from the field and 40.4% from three-point land.
However, in the playoffs later that season, when the Nets were swept by the Celtics, Brown averaged 14 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 56.8% from the field and 42.9% from behind the three-point line as Boston tried to force anyone other Durant and Irving to beat them. Brown took advantage of that to the fullest, but Durant and Irving did not rise to the occasion.
In the offseason following that embarrassing sweep, this past summer, Brown signed with the Nuggets on a 2-year, $13 million deal that seems like a bargain at this moment given how much he has contributed to the team this season. Many Nets fans were upset that Brooklyn did not find a way to keep Brown and at this moment, he’s thriving in Denver. Brown was asked about why he left Brooklyn:
“I don’t think it was the Nets’ front office who made that decision (not to bring him back) because what I’ve heard, they wanted me back. I don’t know who it was (that didn’t want Brown back in Brooklyn)… Front office-wise, they’re great, they’re amazing. I love Sean Marks, Jeff Peterson, but I think locker room-wise, it was cool. We really didn’t do much together off the court, but when James (Harden) was there, it was more fun. James was a great teammate on and off the court. Definitely was one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.
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