Brown attended Winona Senior High School in Winona, Minnesota. As a junior, he averaged 14.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. In his senior year, he averaged 22.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.9 blocks per game. He led his school to a record of 29-2 and finished third in the class AAA State Tournament. On January 8, 2010, Brown recorded a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks against Mankato West High School. He was named "Winona Daily News Player of the Year", was also named to the AP all-state 1st team, the class AAA all-tournament team at the State Tournament, and to the 1st team all-Big 9 Conference. During his high school career he set seven Winona records, such as points in a game, points in a season, blocks in a game, blocks in a season, field goals in a game, field goals scored in one season, and free throws scored in one season. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Brown was listed as the No. 31 center in the nation in 2010.
College career
Standing 7 feet 1 inch tall, Brown became the first seven-footer to sign with Green Bay. He started for the Phoenix as a freshman and set the school single game mark for blocked shots. Over his four-year career, Brown was twice named first team All-Horizon League and as a senior was named conference Defensive Player of the Year. Brown graduated and left Green Bay as the school's career leader in blocked shots and scored 1,678 points and collected 800 rebounds.
Following the completion of his college career, Brown trained to prepare for 2014 NBA draft workouts. He gained attention at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, measuring a full seven feet tall without shoes and enjoying one of the top shooting performances of any player, including hitting 18 of 25 NBA-range three-pointers in standing shooting drills. On June 26, 2014, he was selected with the 50th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. In July 2014, he joined the Suns for the 2014 NBA Summer League. During the Suns' final Summer League game, Brown injured his left shoulder during the first quarter of the team's blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks. After undergoing surgery on July 24, he was ruled out for at least 3–4 months. He signed a contract with the Suns on September 14th, 2014, but was waived by the team three days later. Brown had initially planned to play for Obradoiro CAB in the Liga ACB once his shoulder was fully healed. However, after taking extra time off to rehabilitate the same shoulder that gave him problems during his senior year at Green Bay, Brown eventually filed paper work with the NBA G League and entered the league's player pool. On February 16, 2015, he was acquired by the Bakersfield Jam, the Suns' G-League affiliate. The next day, he made his debut for the Jam, recording six points and five blocks in the 120-109 win over the Los Angeles D-Fenders. During his time with the Jam, he averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 20 games.
In July 2015, Brown re-joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2015 Las Vegas Summer League. On July 31, he signed with Obradoiro CAB of Spain for the 2015–16 season. In 29 games for Obradoiro, he averaged 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
In July 2016, Brown again joined Suns for the 2016 Las Vegas Summer League. In September, 2016, the Suns renounced to his draft rights and on October 29, the Suns' D-League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns, traded his player rights to the Windy City Bulls. He subsequently joined Windy City's training camp roster, and went on to make the opening night roster. He made his debut for the Bulls on November 11, 2016, recording 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks in a 123–94 win over the Long Island Nets.
