Mikel Brown Jr. isn’t coming into Brooklyn empty-handed. The Nets rookie is bringing along lessons from some of the best point guards he ever studied, and Rajon Rondo sits right near the top of that list.
Brown recently sat down with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady on Cousins and talked through a range of topics: his path to the NBA, his season at Louisville, the back injury he worked back from, and what he believes Nets fans should expect once he gets rolling in Brooklyn. But the part that stood out most centered on Rondo, who became more than just a player Brown admired from afar.
Growing up, Brown studied Rondo alongside Steve Nash and Chris Paul. He didn’t try to clone any one of them.
Instead, he picked apart different strengths from each guard and folded them into his own approach. Nash’s pick-and-roll manipulation caught his eye.
Paul’s edge and defensive intensity stuck with him. Rondo, though, was the one who impressed him most with his basketball IQ and his knack for making winning plays when the moment called for it.
That respect turned into actual mentorship at Louisville. Brown spent time at Rondo’s house watching film and even playing chess.
And the message from Rondo wasn’t to make the game more complicated. It was the opposite.
“You don't need to overcomplicate it. You're extremely talented. Just keep it simple,” Rondo told him, according to Brown.
Brown said that advice helped him settle in after he returned from his back injury in January. Once he was back, his production picked up and Louisville kept winning, and he credited the lessons from Rondo with helping him find his rhythm again.
Now the Nets get to see how that translates to the next level.
Brown made it clear he doesn’t want Brooklyn fans thinking of him as just a scorer. When asked what he wants them to know about his game, he answered simply: “I'm all about winning,” Brown said.
He said he’s played just about every role over the course of his career, whether that meant being the primary scoring option, serving as a playmaker, or just filling whatever job his team needed. That same mindset carries over to defense, where Brown pushed back on some of the criticism he heard during the draft process. He felt too many people leaned on numbers instead of the tape.
For him, the job is bigger than stats. It’s about what happens when he’s on the floor and whether the team is better because he’s out there.
“At the end of the day, it's about plus-minus with me. If I'm on the court, are we in a plus?
Are we winning the margins?” Brown said.
His road to the league wasn’t smooth. The back injury at Louisville forced him to learn patience, and he said rushing the recovery would not have helped. The whole experience taught him to prepare the right way and stay on top of his body even when he feels fine.
Draft night brought its own wave of emotion. Brown called hearing his name a surreal moment, and once the Nets picked him, the uncertainty disappeared. That left room for celebration with family and friends before the real work began.
Brown still has plenty to prove, but the blueprint is already there. He’s not trying to be Steve Nash, Chris Paul or Rajon Rondo. He’s trying to build something that belongs to him, using pieces from all three.
For Brooklyn, that kind of maturity from a rookie might matter just as much as the numbers eventually will.
In Other News...
Nets Fans Are About To Learn How Much Respect This Team Gets
The next few days will give the Nets a much clearer read on where they stand around the league. The NBA is rolling out the full 2026-27 regular season schedule in pieces between Tuesday and Friday, and with it come the dates that tend to say the most about a teams profile: Opening Night, Christmas Day and the NBA Cup slate. Brooklyn has already done most of its offseason shopping, including the addition of Julius Randle, so the attention now shifts from what the roster looks like to how the league chooses to showcase it.
For a team trying to reassert itself, those placement details matter. The Nets are expected to land in East Group A for the NBA Cup, where the competition is slated to include the Pistons, Raptors, Magic and Bucks, a grouping that will offer an early hint at how the league views Brooklyns place in the conference. The schedule release should answer a lot of those questions in short order, even if the final judgment on respect comes later on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Rebuild Timeline Just Put One Big Brooklyn Question In Focus
The Nets are still leaning into a patient rebuild, one that puts internal development ahead of any immediate swing for a superstar trade. Around the league, that kind of timeline only becomes more important when rivals are balancing their own futures, and the Knicks offer a good example of how fragile roster building can be even after a championship. Jalen Brunson is recovering from wrist surgery and remains in the middle of a 6-to-8 week timeline, while New York also has three young players with limited NBA experience and Mohamed Diawara looking like the most likely to help next season.
Brooklyns front office has made its preference clear for now, and that leaves one big question hanging over the next phase of the rebuild: how long the Nets are willing to stay in this lane before the urge to accelerate grows stronger. The broader Eastern Conference context only sharpens it, especially with the Knicks still trying to sort out their own supporting cast and the league continuing to mark the passing of former Knicks coach Don Nelson, a reminder of how quickly circumstances can change around a franchise. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Still Have One Roster Battle That Could Matter More Than Fans Think
With Chaney Johnson and Tyler Bilodeau already locked in, the Brooklyn Nets still have one two-way roster spot to sort out for the 2026-27 season, and the final decision does not look close to being settled yet. Summer League has already given the front office a few names to keep circling, with several players making enough of an impression to stay in the conversation as the team moves toward camp.
Dain Dainja and Ben Humrichous have both put themselves into the mix, while Cam Nelson remains a possibility once healthy after missing Summer League because of injury. The Nets have not made a final call, and training camp could end up being the place where this job is won, which is exactly why a seemingly small roster battle may wind up carrying more weight than it first appears. [Read more 🡒]