Former fan favorite Nuggets player gets a big championship tattoo

Last year at this time Bruce Brown Jr. was making big plays almost every single night as he and the Denver Nuggets sped to the 2023 NBA title and the sixth man got a new tattoo to celebrate that achievement.

Brown posted to Instagram a picture of his arm with fresh ink. There are trees, wolves, mountains and the Larry O’Brien Trophy with an all-important Nuggets logo in the middle of the piece.

BRUCE BROWN LOVES THIS CITY

COME BACK ANYTIME @BruceBrown11

(what an amazing tattoo btw) pic.twitter.com/bE9zpQcEpn

— Nuggets Lead (@NuggetsLead) May 16, 2024

Brown left Denver in the offseason when the Pacers signed him to a $40 million deal the Nuggets didn’t have the cap space to match on. But Indy dealt the versatile hooper to the Raptors with three first-round picks before the trade deadline to add Pascal Siakam. At the time of the deal, Brown was a big part of the Pacers strong season, third on the team in rebounds, fourth in assists and fifth in points per game. Brown’s stats were actually almost all up across the board this year—but his efficiency numbers are down from his standout season in 2022-23. Indy is in the second round with Siakam while the Raptors tanked at the end of the season.

Toronto is not expected to pick up the option on Brown’s contract which would again make him a free agent. Brown struggled a bit north of the border and without his big playoff moments, the 6-4 guard’s market might not be as strong as a season ago.

Brown wound up averaging 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game on 48% shooting, 32% from deep. Every single number was the same or down from his lone season with the Nuggets, which currently ranks as his career best.

The two factors plus the addition of the Nuggets ink make many Denver fans hopeful that Brown would take a pretty big pay cut to rejoin Nikola Jokic and crew this summer.

Brown returned to Denver twice this year for games and scored his championship ring. Jeff Green was also a rotation piece last year in the playoffs and he played against the Nuggets in Colorado twice this year and got his ring before a contest. Green was at Game 5 of Round 2, clearing rooting on his former Nuggets. We’ll see if Brown’s flirting with his old home keeps on, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him at Ball Arena cheering on Jamal Murray’s team.

Most of Brown’s last social media posts are Nuggets-related, including him hyping up Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, young players who have ostensibly taken on big parts of the now Raptor’s old role.