Mikel Brown Jr. Shows Flashes of Brilliance in NBA Debut Amidst Nets' Season-Opening Loss

Rookie Mikel Brown Jr.’s NBA debut offered a rare bright spot for the Brooklyn Nets in their season-opening disappointment, as they lost to the visiting Charlotte Hornets 110-103. Despite the loss, Brown showcased promising moments in his first professional game.

“Man, I can’t even put it into words, man. It’s great,” Brown said after the game. “At the end of the day, I still wanted to win. That’s the biggest thing when it comes to that stuff. But I was excited to be out there.”

Brown finished his debut with six points, three rebounds, and three assists, committing only one turnover. He played under a minutes limit, logging 19:48 after missing the first three preseason games with a rolled left ankle and only participating in the preseason finale.

He entered the game in the first quarter and scored his initial points with a strong drive for an and-one play against Charlotte center Moussa Diabate. While Brown appeared composed and comfortable with the ball, he experienced moments of being sped up, ultimately shooting 2-of-8 from the field. He also attempted to dunk over Hornets big man Naz Reid.

“Yeah, really just got to slow down, pick my spots better. I’ve been talking to Julius [Randle] about it, just trying to slow down,” Brown commented on his performance. “Everything I want is there. It’s just all about me being patient. And on the defensive end, just keeping that same mentality of not letting the guards touch the paint. There’s a lot of things that I can clean up. But it’s Game 1. We’re going to get better.”

Starting point guard Egor Dëmin struggled with his drives, effectively reaching the paint but proving ineffective once there. Brown demonstrated a quick downhill ability and delivered a notable behind-the-back pass to teammate Julius Randle for a three-pointer.

“He’s going to be great, man. That play was fun,” Randle said of Brown. “His vision, I’ve said it from the beginning, but his vision and understanding how to play and make reads off of pick-and-rolls or just make the right play every single time comes really natural to him. So he’s going to be amazing.

“He did great. He did exactly how I’d expect a first-year player to do first game. He was aggressive. I can tell he’s a little sped up at times, but he’s going to continue to get better and better. His future is going to be really, really bright in this league and I put it on myself to try to help him accelerate his growth because he’s going to be a big part of this team and can help us win a lot of games.”

Other Nets players had difficult outings. Nolan Traore recorded three points on 0-of-4 shooting with no assists and two turnovers, finishing with a team-worst minus-13. Mo Wagner posted a minus-15 in 15:49.

The Nets had only one player unavailable: Tyler Bilodeau, who is nursing a right shoulder sprain. Charlotte was without Kon Knueppel (hamstring strain), Coby White (calf strain), and Grant Williams (hamstring strain).