Moses Brown (basketball)


Moses Shirief-Lamar Brown is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, on a two-way contract with the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. The center was named a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior in 2018. In his only year with UCLA, Brown was voted to the all-freshman team in the Pac-12 Conference. He went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft.

Early life and high school career

Brown was born in New York City to Malcolm Brown and Wanda Williams. His father Malcolm was a center in junior college. Brown attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, arriving with limited fanfare as a freshman. He was promoted to varsity in his sophomore year, and flourished after growing and. In his junior year, he led Molloy to the Catholic High School Athletic Association finals, where the Stanners lost 64–62 in an upset by Cardinal Hayes.
As a senior, Brown and junior guard Cole Anthony, son of former National Basketball Association first-round draft pick Greg Anthony, formed one of the top duos in all of high school basketball, as well as in Molloy's history. They led the school to the CHSAA's semifinals. Brown was voted the league's most valuable player. He was named a McDonald's All-American, becoming the school's first player to garner the honor since Kenny Anderson in 1989. Brown earned MVP honors in the Ballislife All-American Game.

College career

Brown chose to play for UCLA over Kentucky, Maryland and Florida State. Rated a five-star prospect, he was the top newcomer in the Bruins recruiting class for 2018–19 that ranked in the top-10 nationally and also included Shareef O'Neal, son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal. Brown provided the Bruins with a replacement at center for the graduated Thomas Welsh. Although he stood, there was concern that Brown was underweight at. UCLA coach Steve Alford believed that he might still be growing and had "his best basketball ahead of him."
Brown was inconsistent as a freshman, dominating some games while being a nonfactor in others. In the season opener, he scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including five slam dunks, and had 17 rebounds in a 96–71 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. He was the first UCLA player to have 19 points and 17 rebounds in his college debut since Lew Alcindor, known later as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On November 16, 2018, Brown had 23 points and 14 rebounds in a 95–58 win over Saint Francis to become the first UCLA freshman to record a double-double in his first three games. He nearly had a triple-double with eight blocks in 29 minutes, having left the game for good with around six minutes remaining. After facing smaller post players from small-program schools, Brown struggled offensively against Nick Ward of No. 11 Michigan State with only five points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in an 87–67 loss to the Spartans in the Las Vegas Invitational. In the consolation game, UCLA dropped its second straight contest to a top-15 team, losing to No. 7 North Carolina as Brown played just eight minutes before fouling out. On December 2, he had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks in an 82–58 win over Loyola Marymount. It was his first double-double since the third game of the season, and it came in his first matchup against a fellow 7-footer, the Lions' Mattias Markusson. On January 26, 2019, Brown snapped out of a two-week slump with 11 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks to help the Bruins end a three-game losing streak in a 90–69 win over Arizona. He missed the regular season finale against Utah due to an unspecified violation of the school’s student-athlete code of conduct.
Brown finished the season averaging 9.7 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds, and ranked fourth in the Pac-12 Conference with 1.9 blocks per game. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and was an honorable mention for the conference's all-defensive team. After the season, he declared for the NBA draft.

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2019–present)

Brown went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft. He joined the Houston Rockets for the 2019 NBA Summer League, playing briefly in one game.
In September 2019, Brown signed a training camp contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. He played in all five preseason games, averaging 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 6.9 minutes. Afterwards, the Trail Blazers converted his deal into a two-way contract. On October 27, they assigned him to the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. He was transferred back to Portland on November 9 amid multiple injuries to their frontcourt, including centers Pau Gasol and Jusuf Nurkić. Brown was sent to the G League on January 26, 2020. On February 29, Brown posted 25 points and 10 rebounds for Texas in a win over the Northern Arizona Suns.

Career statistics

College