One of the teammates of Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic almost signed with one of their team’s most recent rivals right after their lone NBA championship berth. On Thursday, Dec. 18, @hoopsalerts on Instagram posted a carousel post that shows Nuggets guard Bruce Brown’s recent guest interview on the DNVR Sports podcast in the midst of the current 2025-26 NBA season.
The post then includes a snippet of the aforementioned interview, wherein Brown is heard revealing to the podcast hosts and its viewers that he actually almost signed with then-coach Darvin Ham’s Los Angeles Lakers after the 2022-23 campaign for the 2023-24 season. This comes as a surprise since at that point, Brown was one of the focal points of the Nuggets team that won the franchise its lone NBA title so far back in 2023.
“I was going to the Lakers after the championship…I was going to the Lakers. Free agency started, they called me and Darvin Ham’s the head coach, JO’s there (Jordan Ott) JO’s my guy. And, they wanted me to be starting point guard. So I’m like, ‘I got LeBron, I got AD. I got guys where they went to the Western Conference Finals. I wanna win again. I could be a starting point guard for this,'” Brown explained.
“And, all I’m doing is getting them the ball and get the hell out the way. Same job I’m doing here. And I was like, ‘I’m gonna do it.’ And, I was going there for, on a three-year deal,” he continued.
“Bruce Brown revealed that he almost left the Denver Nuggets for the Los Angeles Lakers after they offered him $50 million over three years, and Darvin Ham wanted him to start at point guard (via @dnvr_sports),” @hoopsalerts on Instagram captioned.
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Nevertheless, Brown has found himself back in the Nuggets roster this season after brief stints from his first tenure at Denver with teams such as the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, and the New Orleans Pelicans. So far in the current season, Brown has helped Jokic and the rest of coach David Adelman’s Nuggets to an overall record of 20-6, and they are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Bruce Brown, Nikola Jokic and The 2023 Denver Nuggets Eliminated The LA Lakers In The Playoffs
What would have made Bruce Brown’s move to the Los Angeles Lakers tremendously polarizing is the fact that he and the rest of the 2023 Denver Nuggets swept LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, 4-0, in the Western Conference Finals en route to winning that year’s NBA championship.
After that, Denver defeated the Miami Heat in just five games, 4-1, in the 2023 Finals.
Read More: Victor Wembanyama Dismisses Nikola Jokic for Giannis Antetokounmpo And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; Makes Massive NBA Claim
Also Read: “Would’ve Killed You”: Charles Barkley Bickers With Shaq; Ranks Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP
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