After signing a hardship deal with the Philadelphia 76ers on January 3, Charlie Brown Jr. debuted for the club on Friday against the Spurs. Although he saw just 12 minutes of action in the blowout win, the 24-year-old still managed to make a big impression.
Brown scored just three points on 1-of-2 shooting on the night, but he also collected three rebounds while adding an assist, two steals and a block. After the game, Sixers people were raving about the performance.
“I just thought he had great energy for us… He was in passing lanes — you can see the size — he’s got long arms and defends, he gets out and runs, so heck of a player,” said forward Tobias Harris, via Sixers Wire. “It’s good to see guys get an opportunity and show people their skills and what they can do.”
Added head coach Doc Rivers: “He gets his hands on everything, you’ll really like him. We put him at that time we needed defense.”
For Brown, though, it was all about getting to ball out in front of friends and family while donning the jersey of the team he grew up rooting for.
Hometown Hero
“When I first stepped on the floor I got butterflies.” 💙❤️
@LaurenMRosen spoke to @CharleskBrownjr
about his first time playing for the team he cheered for as a little kid.
The Sixers’ Lauren Rosen spoke with Brown about his recent homecoming. And the Northeast Philly native and former Saint Joseph’s standout’s response left little doubt that it was one of the biggest moments of his career to date.
“Unbelievable,” he said of making his Sixers debut. “I think when I first stepped on the floor I had butterflies. And I don’t really get butterflies, but I had a lot of Saint Joe’s people in the stands and family in the stands. So, it’s a blessing to be home and doing what I love to do at the highest level.”
When he got his first bucket, which came on a breakaway layup (with a foul and one) during the first quarter, he got a big ovation from the Wells Fargo Center crowd. Clearly, those cheers meant a little bit more than they might have in some other arena.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Brown said. “You know, Philly fans are the best fans in the league, so to be able to make that aggressive play and show my emotion, that was big time.”
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Brown’s NBA Journey
After raising his game as a redshirt sophomore at Saint Joe’s in 2018-19, Brown battled hard for an NBA opportunity, eventually landing a two-way deal with the Hawks in ’19-20. Alas, he was largely relegated to garbage-time minutes during his 10 appearances with Atlanta.
He got another crack at the league last season with the Thunder, signing multiple 10-day contracts and, eventually, a non-guaranteed multi-year deal. This time, he saw action in just nine contests, however, his minutes per game jumped to 16.9.
The extra time didn’t really translate to better output, though. He connected on just 30.2% of his field-goal attempts overall and 23.8% of his triples in OKC.
This season, Brown got a chance for a fresh start and a shot at redemption with the Sixers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. In 11 games with the club, he put up 16.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and just under one block per contest. He was also a 40% three-point shooter on 6.8 attempts per contest.
Thanks to those efforts, he was able to catch on with the Mavericks as a hardship signee. He went on to play in three uneventful games with Dallas before finally finding his way back home.
Now, he’s rubbing shoulders with Matisse Thybulle and Andre Drummond.
“Andre went to my prep school, so we really connect on that; we had the same coach,” Brown said. “Matisse, we kind of play the same position, so I’m just trying to pick up his little knacks and tricks.”
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Philly Product Dishes on His Sixers Debut: ‘I Got Butterflies’