Moses Brown (basketball)

Moses Shirief-Lamar Brown (born October 13, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. The 7-foot-2-inch (2.18 m) center was named a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior in 2018. In his only year with UCLA, Brown was voted to the all-freshman team in the Pac-12 Conference. After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, Brown spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

For other uses, see Moses Brown (disambiguation).

Moses Brown
Brown (in blue) with UCLA in 2019
No. 9 – Oklahoma City Thunder
PositionCenter
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1999-10-13) October 13, 1999
New York City, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolArchbishop Molloy
(New York City, New York)
CollegeUCLA (2018–2019)
NBA draft2019 / Undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2020Portland Trail Blazers
2019–2020→Texas Legends
2020–presentOklahoma City Thunder
2020–present→Oklahoma City Blue
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and high school career

Brown was born in New York City to Malcolm Brown and Wanda Williams.[1] His father Malcolm was a 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) center in junior college.[2] Brown attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, arriving with limited fanfare as a 6-foot-8-inch (2.03 m) freshman. He was promoted to varsity in his sophomore year, and flourished after growing 6 inches (15 cm) and 100 pounds (45 kg). In his junior year, he led Molloy to the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) finals, where the Stanners lost 64–62 in an upset by Cardinal Hayes.[3]

As a senior, Brown and junior guard Cole Anthony, son of former National Basketball Association (NBA) first-round draft pick Greg Anthony, formed one of the top duos in all of high school basketball, as well as in Molloy's history.[4][5] They led the school to the CHSAA's semifinals.[6] Brown was voted the league's most valuable player (MVP).[7] He was named a McDonald's All-American, becoming the school's first player to garner the honor since Kenny Anderson in 1989.[8] Brown earned MVP honors in the Ballislife All-American Game.[9]

College career

Brown chose to play for UCLA over Kentucky, Maryland and Florida State.[10] Rated a five-star prospect, he was the top newcomer in the Bruins recruiting class for 2018–19 that ranked in the top-10 nationally and also included Shareef O'Neal, son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal.[11][12] Brown provided the Bruins with a replacement at center for the graduated Thomas Welsh. Although he stood 7-foot-1-inch (2.16 m), there was concern that Brown was underweight at 235 pounds (107 kg).[11] UCLA coach Steve Alford believed that he might still be growing and had "his best basketball ahead of him."[13]

Brown was inconsistent as a freshman, dominating some games while being a nonfactor in others.[14] In the season opener, he scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including five slam dunks, and had 17 rebounds in a 96–71 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.[15] He was the first UCLA player to have 19 points and 17 rebounds in his college debut since Lew Alcindor, known later as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[lower-alpha 1] On November 16, 2018, Brown had 23 points and 14 rebounds in a 95–58 win over Saint Francis to become the first UCLA freshman to record a double-double in his first three games. He nearly had a triple-double with eight blocks in 29 minutes, having left the game for good with around six minutes remaining.[16][17] After facing smaller post players from small-program schools, Brown struggled offensively against Nick Ward of No. 11 Michigan State with only five points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in an 87–67 loss to the Spartans in the Las Vegas Invitational.[18] In the consolation game, UCLA dropped its second straight contest to a top-15 team, losing to No. 7 North Carolina as Brown played just eight minutes before fouling out.[19] On December 2, he had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks in an 82–58 win over Loyola Marymount. It was his first double-double since the third game of the season, and it came in his first matchup against a fellow 7-footer, the Lions' 7-foot-3-inch (2.21 m) Mattias Markusson.[20][21] On January 26, 2019, Brown snapped out of a two-week slump with 11 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks to help the Bruins end a three-game losing streak in a 90–69 win over Arizona.[22] He missed the regular season finale against Utah due to an unspecified violation of the school’s student-athlete code of conduct.[14]

Brown finished the season averaging 9.7 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds, and ranked fourth in the Pac-12 Conference with 1.9 blocks per game.[23] He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and was an honorable mention for the conference's all-defensive team.[24] After the season, he declared for the NBA draft.[25]

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2019–2020)

Brown went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft.[26] He joined the Houston Rockets for the 2019 NBA Summer League,[27] playing briefly in one game.[28]

In September 2019, Brown signed a training camp contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.[29] He played in all five preseason games, averaging 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 6.9 minutes. Afterwards, the Trail Blazers converted his deal into a two-way contract.[30] On October 27, they assigned him to the Texas Legends of the NBA G League.[31] He was transferred back to Portland on November 9 amid multiple injuries to their frontcourt, including centers Pau Gasol and Jusuf Nurkić.[32] Brown was sent to the G League on January 26, 2020.[33] On February 29, Brown posted a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for Texas in a win over the Northern Arizona Suns.[34][35] He appeared in nine total games for Portland, while playing in 30 for Texas and averaging 14.4 points on a team-high 64.1 field goal percentage in 19.4 minutes with team-highs of 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.[36]

Oklahoma City Thunder (2020–present)

On December 9, Brown signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder.[36]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Portland 903.7.400—.3751.6.1.1.11.2
Career 903.7.400—.3751.6.1.1.11.2

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 UCLA 323123.4.607—.3528.3.3.61.99.7

Notes
  1. Alcindor had 56 points and 21 rebounds as a sophomore against USC on December 3, 1966. At the time, freshman were ineligible to play varsity.[2][16]

References
  1. "Moses Brown". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  2. Bolch, Ben (November 21, 2018). "More than 50 years later, UCLA's Moses Brown stirs up memories of another dominant big man from New York". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  3. Barca, Christopher (February 8, 2018). "Moses Brown named to All-American squad". Queens Chronicle.
  4. Engel, Matt (January 26, 2018). "Moses Brown, Cole Anthony give Archbishop Molloy highest expectations". New York Daily News.
  5. "Cole Anthony & Moses Brown Are The Best Duo In HS Basketball". Slam. December 14, 2017.
  6. Thomson, Josh (March 8, 2018). "Boys basketball: R.J. Davis, Alan Griffin team for 64 points as Stepinac earns redemption". The Journal News.
  7. Barca, Christopher (March 8, 2018). "Moses Brown takes home league MVP". Queens Chronicle.
  8. Braziller, Zach (January 20, 2018). "Division I recruit blazes trail for New York City talent". The New York Post.
  9. "McClung wins slam dunk contest and scores 20 in all-star game". Bristol Herald Courier. May 6, 2018.
  10. Brzezinski, Alec (January 22, 2018). "McDonald's All-American Moses Brown commits to UCLA". Sporting News.
  11. Caron, Emily (August 13, 2018). "Moses Brown Brings a Different Dimension to a Young and Talented UCLA Team". SI.com.
  12. Bolch, Ben (August 6, 2018). "UCLA announces the signing of Shareef O'Neal, Shaquille's son". Los Angeles Times.
  13. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (April 12, 2018). "UCLA basketball signs Moses Brown, Tyger Campbell, waits for final piece of recruiting class". Los Angeles Daily News.
  14. Bolch, Ben (March 9, 2019). "UCLA's Moses Brown won't play against Utah because of conduct violation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  15. Hernandez, Dylan (November 7, 2018). "Moses Brown is one big reason to watch UCLA basketball". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  16. Alexander, Jim (November 17, 2018). "Alexander: UCLA freshman Moses Brown is already tough to play against". The Press-Enterprise. Retrieved November 19, 2018 – via OCRegister.com.
  17. Bolch, Ben (November 16, 2018). "UCLA sizzles in second half to blow out St. Francis 95-58". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  18. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (November 22, 2018). "Michigan State crushes UCLA men's basketball in Las Vegas Invitational". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  19. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (November 23, 2018). "UCLA men's basketball fades in second half in loss to North Carolina". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  20. Bolch, Ben (December 2, 2018). "UCLA fires on all cylinders, rout Loyola Marymount 82-58". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  21. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (December 2, 2018). "UCLA men's basketball hands Loyola Marymount its first loss". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  22. Bolch, Ben (January 26, 2019). "UCLA's Moses Brown comes up big in 90-69 rout over Arizona". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  23. Bolch, Ben (April 23, 2019). "Moses Brown is leaving UCLA after one season to enter the NBA draft". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  24. "Pac-12 announces 2018-19 Men's Basketball annual major awards" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  25. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (April 23, 2019). "Freshman Moses Brown leaves UCLA basketball for NBA draft". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  26. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (June 20, 2019). "UCLA's Jaylen Hands headed to Brooklyn Nets after going 56th in NBA draft". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  27. Laymance, Reid (July 1, 2019). "Rockets set Summer League roster". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  28. Kent, Austin (September 9, 2019). "BLAZERS SIGN MOSES BROWN TO TRAINING CAMP DEAL". Slam. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  29. "TRAIL BLAZERS SIGN THREE PLAYERS, ANNOUNCE TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. September 12, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  30. "TRAIL BLAZERS CONVERT MOSES BROWN TO TWO-WAY CONTRACT". NBA.com. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  31. "TRAIL BLAZERS TRANSFER MOSES BROWN AND JAYLEN HOARD TO TEXAS LEGENDS". NBA.com. October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  32. Goldberg, Jamie (November 9, 2019). "Moses Brown, Jaylen Hoard transferred to Portland Trail Blazers". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  33. "Trail Blazers' Moses Brown: Sent to G League". CBS Sports. January 26, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  34. "Trail Blazers' Moses Brown: Posts another big line Saturday". CBS Sports. March 1, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  35. "Payne and Brown Post Career Nights In Texas' Win Over Suns" (Press release). Texas Legends. March 1, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  36. "Thunder Signs Moses Brown and Josh Hall to Two-Way Contracts" (Press release). Oklahoma City Thunder. December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
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