Former Louisville star Mikel Brown Jr. gave Nets a glimpse of his potential in NBA debut

Louisville basketball played its first exhibition game last night, as the Cardinals fans got to see Flory Bidunga, Jackson Shelstad, and company make their highly anticipated debut. The Cardinals snapped Kansas's home-game win streak in an exhibition game, marking it the first Jayhawks home exhibition loss since 1993.

3 biggest winners from Louisville's 89-83 win over Kansas

With college basketball back, that also means the NBA is back. And with the NBA back, that means some Cardinals are playing basketball at the highest level. Last night, Louisville fans also saw their former 5-star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. make his official NBA debut.

For Brown, it probably wasn’t the debut he was hoping for, but the former Cardinal certainly showed Nets fans flashes of potential.

Mikel Brown Jr. shows potential but must slow down

Brown is battling back from an injury this offseason, as he missed the first three preseason games with an ankle injury. However, he played in the Nets' final preseason game and just made his official debut last night.

He came off the bench and entered the game for the first time with 3:57 left in the first quarter, and he immediately impressed everyone with his explosiveness that Louisville fans know all about. Brown curls at the top of the key, catches the ball in stride, takes one dribble, and explodes to the rim, finishing through contact and getting a one at the basket with 2:20 remaining in the opening quarter.

He also showed his ability to shoot from beyond the arc, as early in the second quarter, the Nets played a two-man game with Brown, and as Julius Randle was backing his defender down, he drew Brown’s defender to help. Randle dished it to Brown on the wing and showed his ability to make a contested NBA 3-pointer, as he got nothing but net.

Now, those were the rookies' only two buckets of the game, so his performance wasn’t the debut he wanted. He shot 2-of-8 from the field, including 1-of-3 from downtown, and after the game, he made it clear he just needs to slow down a bit.

“Yeah, really just got to slow down, pick my spots better,” stated Brown. “I’ve been talking to Julius about it, just trying to slow down. Everything I want is there. It’s just all about me being patient.”

He finished the game after just 18 minutes, adding 6 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. Brown flashed his potential in game one, but now he has to learn from last night and make those key adjustments he talked about after the game. It will be fun to watch the former Cardinal in his first NBA season, and as he said last night, he got the open looks and shots; now he has to be that prolific scorer he was at Louisville.

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