Christian Braun #0 of the Denver Nuggets goes up for a dunk against Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
As Stephen Curry dribbled the ball up the floor with the Golden State Warriors down four and just over 12 seconds remaining, the Denver Nuggets entrusted Christian Braun. The third-year swingman picked up the future Hall-of-Famer as he crossed half-court, sliding his feet and staying in front as he forced a give-up in lieu of a shot attempt.
Warriors guard Moses Moody let it fly over a contesting Russell Westbrook but missed off the back iron. With the loose ball up for grabs toward the right wing, Braun beat multiple Golden State players and dove in between Curry and Andrew Wiggins to secure it. It led to a jump ball with 1.9 seconds left to go, effectively ending the game in favor of Denver, 119-115.
“Those plays are a play that I think everybody should make,” Braun told RG in an exclusive pregame interview last Thursday in Cleveland. “I think that when the ball's out there, it's a 50-50 ball for a reason. Somebody's gotta come up with it.”
“I hope someone’s got a snapshot of Christian Braun laying out for that loose ball before he didn’t call a timeout,” Denver head coach Michael Malone said after the victory. “That’s what it takes... Those are winning plays at the end of a close game that is hanging in the balance. I’m proud of our guys for making all of those winning plays down the stretch.”
Notwithstanding the controversy that came with the hustle – the NBA confirmed in its last two-minute report that there was never a signal for a timeout despite Steve Kerr’s claims – there is no questioning what that moment illustrated about Braun.
“Just winners, man. Those guys are winners, just through and through,” Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon said of Braun and Westbrook to DNVR Sports after last week’s win. “They have so much heart, and it shows up in a game.”
“Those are the moments when you don't think about anything,” Nikola Jokic added in his postgame press conference. “You just want to get the ball and make the play. Winners make those kinds of moves and those kinds of plays, so I'm happy that I have them on my team."
What Makes A Winning Player?
Following up on those words of encouragement, Braun defines a winning player as somebody who approaches the game the right way, plays hard when an opportunity presents itself, takes care of their body and cares about everything that goes into being victorious first and foremost.
We know how his teammates and head coach feel, but does the 23-year-old see himself in that mold?
“I would hope so,” Braun told RG. “I think that my coaches when I was younger did a really good job. I played for winning programs my whole life, and I think that's kinda what shaped me. I played for a winning high school program that I kinda had to earn my way for. I played for a winning college program, a winning AAU program.
“They all had coaches that I respected and looked up to. I had to kinda earn my way on each team I was on too, and I think that kinda plays into it and helps a lot.”
He already has a reputation that precedes him. Between his sophomore year in high school at Blue Valley Northwest, freshman season at Kansas University and rookie campaign with the Nuggets, Braun contributed to five straight championships at three different levels from 2019-2023.
Each step has taught him something different along the way. Make no mistake about it, though – Braun is still soaking up information every day to make himself better.
Producing career-high averages of 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals with personal-high shooting splits (.570/.431/.776) and minutes played per game (35.2), Braun is handling his increased floor time well.
Despite a downgrade in usage, his efficiency is off the charts. According to Cleaning The Glass, Braun is scoring 131 points per 100 shot attempts, which ranks in the 90th percentile in the NBA. There hasn’t been a single game where he’s been held under double-digit scoring.
As one of 32 players in the league to average at least five shot attempts in the restricted area, he ranks in the top half with a 68.3% success rate. Braun is a savvy cutter with a nose for the rim, a feverish aggressor in transition and an improved three-baller.
“I'm learning. I'm learning how to take care of my body. This is gonna be another process like my rookie year where I need to learn, but I also need to contribute, I need to produce,” Braun told RG. “When I'm out there, I need to be producing while also learning and evolving and making my routine my own. This year is definitely new for me, but I'm so fortunate that I'm in this situation.
Following The Leaders
All of those aforementioned traits make Braun an ideal partner for Jokic, who is wrecking the NBA right now in possibly his best start to a season since joining the league. Riding his starting five heavily, Malone has frequently utilized them as a pairing.
The Braun-Jokic duo has logged 614 minutes together and boasts a 14.3 net rating. That’s the second-highest in the NBA among other two-man combinations that have played at least 500 minutes together.
Digging further into passing data on NBA.com, Braun has accounted for 2.6 assists per game and 49 total helpers from Jokic, which is the most amid the star big man’s teammates. And although he’s not doing much of the creating, Braun has fed Jokic 236 times, more than double that of Jamal Murray, who’s next on the list at 110.
Braun credits Jokic and Murray for lending a big hand over the years, as well as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown for providing the blueprint when they were in Denver.
“I mean, I've learned a ton in my years, not just from [Jokic]. Each player I've played with, I think, has done a good job of helping me out,” Braun told RG. “Just watching KCP and Bruce and how they played off of him helped me a lot, and they were always quick to reach out and tell me what they thought or what they saw.
“Obviously, you learn with experience. The organization, I've been fortunate enough that they've put me in positions to have those game experiences and really learn through making mistakes.”
There isn’t any specific wisdom that has stuck with Braun he can share. However, observing routines has been a huge influence on his preparation.
“You can take a little bit from each person. I think I've tried to take a little bit from each of the guys that have been in the league for a long time,” Braun told RG. “Whether it was Ish Smith, DJ [DeAndre Jordan], they all do little things. Jeff Green. Just watching each person's routine and try to take a little part of each of their routine that I like and make it mine and do it my way.
“But just watching his approach and the way he was in the training room, the way he's on the court, the way he approaches each game, his routine, his consistency. Each person, like I said, has good parts of their routine that I try to put into mine, but I'm still learning every day and trying to implement different things.”
Since turning pro and helping the Nuggets win their first championship in franchise history, Braun has witnessed firsthand what it takes to succeed on a daily basis.
“That was a really cool part because I got to learn and I got to play. I got to play through mistakes a little bit,” Braun told RG. “While I was learning, we were also winning, so I had to be with Ogie [Nuggets director of player development Ognjen Stojakovic] on the court working while also trying to contribute and play a winning brand of basketball.
Receiving The Message?
After a 27-point loss, in which the Nuggets allowed 145 points on their home floor to the New York Knicks on Nov. 25, Malone loudly questioned his group’s efforts and toughness.
It’s no secret that the veteran head coach will speak his mind as he sees fit, whether the cameras are on or off. He’s always abided by tough love and will let his players know when he is pleased and when he is dissatisfied.
Braun admires that quality and feels that his authenticity serves well in the present and the future.
“I think it's good. I think that he does a really good of being on you at all times,” Braun told RG. “I think that sometimes NBA teams, that's what you need is somebody who's gonna build habits. Good days, bad days, he's on you constantly and I think that's important. He's very consistent with his message. He's consistent with his approach to practice, his approach to games.
“He just wants to win, and I think that's what I appreciate about him the most. Everything he does — off days, practice days — all of it's because he wants to win. You can always get behind a guy that wants to do things the right way and wants to compete, wants to win.”
Malone’s demand for defense will continue until it is consistent. Entering Tuesday, Denver ranks 24th in the league in points per game allowed. At the same time, its defensive rating (114.7) is hovering around the middle of the pack, per Cleaning The Glass.
Taking on different challenges night in and night out, Braun is one of the Nuggets’ top wing defenders. He feels responsible for uplifting his teammates.
“We've talked about it a lot,” Braun told RG. “There's a lot of little things, detailed things. Some of them are just effort, some of them are approaching the game the right way, knowing personnel. There's a lot of different things that we can get better at. We have a lot of room to improve, but I know going forward we're gonna have the right approach.
It always helps to have a staple on both ends of the floor back in the fold. Aaron Gordon, who was hampered by a right calf injury, missed 10 games before returning last week. A jack of all trades, the veteran forward should bring a big boost for Malone and the team.
“He's great for us, man, his willingness to do whatever it takes any given night,” Braun told RG. “He's shooting the ball well at a really high level. He raises our floor defensively a lot. He rebounds the ball for us. He passes the ball really well. So just having him and having a guy that has won, who has been around the league for a long time, you never want to be without him.
“Peyton [Watson]'s been great for us when Aaron's been out, so now we have Peyton also coming off the bench. Everybody knows how good he is defensively. So we're grateful to have [Aaron] back, but we've got to continue to get better.”
Christian Braun’s Evolution
When it comes to his ongoing growth as a player, Braun insists that it’s about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. It all goes back to a saying he heard during his time in Lawrence, Kansas, from one of the greatest ever to patrol the sidelines.
“Just win. Over my career — high school, college — I think I've learned,” Braun told RG. “A big thing that Coach [Bill] Self taught was when you win, the pie is big enough for everybody. I think that my individual success, I always have more individual success when our team wins and the spotlight's bigger when you're winning.
“The bigger the platform is, obviously, the more people see me and the more individual success I get when the team has success. So that's my priority. Hopefully, we'll go out there, and we'll win as a team. If we win as a team, I think that each individual will get what they want for themselves.”
Spencer Davies has covered the NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers as a credentialed reporter for the past nine seasons. His work has appeared on Basketball News, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, FOX Sports, HoopsHype, CloseUp360, FanSided and Basketball Insiders among others. In addition to his work in journalism, he has been a senior editor, a digital production assistant, social media manager and a sports radio anchor and producer.
