Brooklyn Nets rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr. finally made his summer league debut on Monday for the Nets’ 100-79 win over the Golden State Warriors Blue in the California Classic. Brooklyn, along with its fans, had been waiting patiently for the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to take the floor and he reacted to his debut for the Nets on Monday.
“It felt amazing. Shoutout to Egor [Demin] for finding me. Me and him talked about that we were going to kind of play off of each other and find each other and get each other open shots,” Brown said when asked how it felt to make his first shot in the game. Brown made his first shot, a three-pointer, with 7:51 left to play in the first quarter after Egor Demin found him with a nice pass.
“I was very, not even anxious, I was just like fuming, like I was kind of like a fire, like a fire being lit, like I was just ready to hoop, man. It was more of that,” Brown said when asked how it felt to sit out the first two games of the Classic. “I’ve always been trying to keep it cool, calm, and collected going into these games. This being my first game, usually you would think you hype yourself up.”
Brown, 20, finished the victory with 10 points (4-of-11 from the field, 2-of-5 from behind the three-point line) and four assists in just 19 minutes. Brown began the game as the starting point guard with players like Demin and Drake Powell playing as the off-the-ball guards so that Brown could get more reps as a ball-handler given that will likely be his role next season.
Brooklyn does not play again until July 10 in the Las Vegas Summer League so Brown and the rest of the players, some of which played in three games in three days, will get some much-needed rest. Brown did not get as much playing time as the rest of his teammates over the course of the Classic, but he showed the immense potential that he has in just a short amount of time.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Mikel Brown Jr. reacts to summer league debut vs. Warriors
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire | USA TODAY Network
