Brooklyn Nets rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr. came into the NBA with a sizable amount of hype after being selected with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Brooklyn selected Brown to be one of the guards of the future and while he has an interesting skillset, he explains where he has drawn his inspiration from over the course of his basketball journey.
"To be honest with you, I honestly don't like watch one person because I want to be the best version of myself, so I really take pieces of everybody else's game," Brown said during his appearance on the "Nets Pod With Sarah Kustok" during the Las Vegas Summer League. Brown has been asked plenty of times about his game and his personality and it seems like he's an open book when it comes
to describing his growth.
"I still do watch Steve Nash, [Rajon] Rondo, Chris Paul. Nowadays, you got [Jalen] Brunson, Shay [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander], Tyrese Maxey, Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Dame [Lillard] like everybody," Brown continued. "I watch every single guard, even the great defensive guards like Davion Mitchell, Jrue Holiday, Keaton Wallace, and how they guard."
Brown, 20, is coming off a solid summer circuit in which he averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 38.8% from the field and 34.6% from behind the three-point line. Brown missed Brooklyn's first two games of the California Classic as the team was trying to manage his body, but once he stepped on the floor, he showed why he was regarded as highly as he was during the draft.
Nets summer league head coach Dutch Gaitley made sure to note during the team's time in Las Vegas that Brown is underrated as a defender, both in effort and effectiveness. However, given that Brown has a flair to his game while also being able to be physical on the defensive end when he needs it to be, it makes sense that he has drawn inspiration from some of the NBA's best guards in recent memory.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Mikel Brown Jr. details players he's learned from for his game
