Braun on critics: “I don’t think those people know anything.”
The legs aren’t gone. It’s that they come and go like an outdoor cat, a pair of unfettered, unpredictable beasts, feral and finicky.
“Gotta get my explosion back,” Christian Braun told me late Wednesday night after his Nuggets hit the All-star break with a 102-98 loss to Sacramento and riding a three-game, they-kinda-look-gassed losing streak.
“That’s a big part of my game is the explosion, the burst … I don’t think I’ve had that for a month or two. I haven’t had that explosion for a month or two. It’s not an excuse — the team’s still winning, so I’m still happy as a player and as a person. As long as we win and put ourselves in the best position to win the NBA Finals, yeah, no complaints from me.”
Still, the champs can’t repeat — won’t repeat — with the Braun of Wednesday evening, a secondyear wing staggering as if he’d just hit a metaphorical wall at about 186 miles per hour.
While the spirit seemed willing, the shot was wild. The former Kansas star misfired on 5 of 6 attempts from the floor against the Kings, sank 1 of 2 free throws, dished out two assists, pulled down three boards and racked up a block over 23 minutes of grind.
“I don’t want to sit here and make any excuses, but it hasn’t been great,” said Braun, who’s averaged 7.0 points and 3.5 boards per game over 55 appearances this season. “(It’s been) one thing after another. But I feel all right
… I think this this break for me, personally, will be great for my body. I think that’s the biggest thing for me right now, is getting my body back. (It) hasn’t felt great all year.”
Which explains the moment midway through the first quarter that should’ve torn the roof off of Ball Arena, and sucked the souls out of the Sacramento bench in the process. With a clear path to the hoop, rolling left off a Nikola Jokic screen, the crowd expected Braun, a wicked leaper when he’s right, to do some Aaron-Gordonesque damage to a rim. To posterize a guy. To lay it in for an easy two, at the worst.
Instead, the lithe Kansan stopped short, planted with two feet and pump-faked to draw contact, giving Sacramento defender Keegan Murray time to close. Only Murray didn’t bite on the fake, swatting the ball away with his left hand.
“There’s no question that I’ve been banged up this year. I haven’t really felt like myself, physically,” Braun continued. “But I’m out on the court, every game … and that’s always the goal: I’ll be available every game.”
To his credit. But a springier, more assured Braun goes harder to the hoop against Murray. Of all the tired legs in that locker room, the kid who helped beat the Heat last June might need a breather more than most.
From Feb. 9, 2023, through the Kings game, roughly a calendar year, the Kansan appeared in 101 games with the Nuggets, regular-season and postseason. To put that number in perspective, the 22-year-old played 101 tilts over three years as a collegian with the Jayhawks, from the fall of 2019 through the spring of 2022.
Meanwhile, the bumps and bruises aren’t just piling up. They’re collecting interest.
October: Calf issue. November: Right shin strain. January: Left ankle sprain. None of that helps on the shooting front, whether it’s consistency from the arc or finishing at the rim. And on the mental side, you wonder how Braun’s been able to keep from crawling inside his own head, given the talk last summer about replacing Bruce Brown’s production off the bench.
“Do I think that my role is what Bruce’s was? Absolutely not,” Braun said Wednesday. “I think early on in the year, when Jamal (Murray) wasn’t playing, and Jamal was hurt, I think I did have a lot of that (Brown) role. I was scoring more points. I was involved with the ball in my hands more. But when Jamal came back, naturally, it doesn’t happen as often. I think Reggie (Jackson) has done a really good job. I think he’s stepping into that (Brown) role, too. So it’s not about my role … like I said, we’re a top team in the West — it’s not about it’s not about my role. It’s about winning, so I’m not focused on that.”
He’s says he’s not focused on outside noise, either. Well, except for the bad stuff — the armchair experts, the name-calling on social media, the chorus and the doubt.
“I love to hear what people say because they’re wrong every time,” Braun explained, smiling as he straightened in his seat. “And they’ve been wrong every year in my career. Every time.
“It’s the same as my second year in Kansas. They said, ‘We need to get more athletic … we need a new wings.’ That happened in my second year in college, too. Those people have been wrong every single time.”
To wit: Braun went from a 9.7-point-per-game-scorer as a sophomore at Kansas to 14.1 per game as a junior. The Jayhawks rode that surge to a national title, which proved to be the best closing argument of all.
“I don’t think those people know anything,” the Nuggets guard continued. “I think that, like you said, I’ve played in a lot of big games, contributed in the Finals, won a Final. I’ve played big minutes. I’ve scored. I’ve shot well. I’ve done a little bit of everything. Different lineups call for different things. There’ve been different roles (for me) throughout the year. Early on in the year, I was asked to score more — I think I did a good job of scoring more.
“As far as the (past few months), I’ve been asked to get back to my (same) role as last year. And I’m perfectly fine with that. I think our team’s really good when I’m being that ‘energy’ guy. And that’s what’s important to me.
“But no, I don’t care what people say. I know
I’ll prove everybody wrong every time. That’s just who I am as a person. I see it all. … I’ll continue to work … I’ll continue to work every day. And I promise you, (the slump) won’t last.”