Moses Shirief-Lamar Brown (born October 13, 1999) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA), on a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

Ontario Clippers The Ontario Clippers, formerly known as the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Ontario, California, and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Clippers. The team began play ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

. The

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

was named a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

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 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. After going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

, Brown spent his rookie season on a

with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. He joined the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

on a two-way deal for 2020–21 before signing a multi-year, standard NBA contract during the season.

Early life and high school career

Brown was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Malcolm Brown and Wanda Williams. His father Malcolm was a center in

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

. Brown attended

Archbishop Molloy High School Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9-12, located on on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the Roman Cath ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, arriving with limited fanfare as a freshman. He was promoted to varsity in his second year, and flourished after growing and . In his junior year, he led Molloy to the

Catholic High School Athletic Association The Catholic High School Athletic Association or CHSAA is a high school athletic association made up of Catholic high schools based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. It is the largest Catholic high school athletic league in ...

(CHSAA) finals, where the Stanners lost 64–62 in an upset by Cardinal Hayes. As a senior, Brown and junior guard

Cole Anthony Cole Hinton Anthony (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Listed at and , he plays t ...

, son of former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

first-round

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

pick

Greg Anthony Gregory Carlton Anthony (born November 15, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sports. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Anthony also cont ...

, 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 In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP). He was named a

, 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 The Ballislife All-American Game is an annual American all-star game featuring high school basketball players. It was founded in 2011 by Ballislife.com to provide a stage for West Coast players who were not selected to other All-American games. A ...

College career

Brown chose to play for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

over

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

. 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 Shareef Rashaun O'Neal (born January 11, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. The son of Hall of Fame player Shaquille O'Neal, he attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica, Califo ...

, son of Hall of Famer

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

. Brown provided the Bruins with a replacement at

for the graduated Thomas Welsh. Although he stood , there was concern that Brown was underweight at . UCLA coach

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

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 dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

s, and had 17

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

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 Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

. 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 basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in his first three games. He nearly had a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

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 Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

with only five points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in an 87–67 loss to the Spartans in the

Las Vegas Invitational The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Sum ...

. In the consolation game, UCLA dropped its second straight contest to a top-15 team, losing to No. 7

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

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 Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

. 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 Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. He missed the regular season finale against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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

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 (2019–2020)

Brown went

in the

. He joined the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

for the

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 5 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Croat ...

, playing briefly in one game. In September 2019, Brown signed a training camp contract with the

. 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

. On October 27, they assigned him to the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado ...

of the

. He was transferred back to Portland on November 9 amid multiple injuries to their frontcourt, including centers

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA champion ...

and

Jusuf Nurkić Jusuf Nurkić (; born 23 August 1994), nicknamed "the Bosnian Beast", is a Bosnian professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at tall and weighing 290 lb (132 kg ...

. Brown was sent to the G League on January 26, 2020. On February 29, Brown posted a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for Texas in a win over the

Northern Arizona Suns The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play a ...

. He appeared in nine total games for Portland, while playing in 30 for Texas and averaging 14.4 points on a team-high 64.1

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

in 19.4 minutes with team-highs of 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2020–2021)

On December 9, 2020, Brown signed a two-way contract with the

. He played in the G League with the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as ...

. For the week ending February 23, 2021, he was voted the G League Player of the Week after leading the Blue to a 5–0 record while averaging 19.8 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. He was named to the All-NBA G League First Team after season averages of 18.5 points, 13.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 26.4 minutes per game. He was also placed on the NBA G League All-Defensive Team. On March 14, Brown made his first career start for the Thunder, replacing a resting

Al Horford Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (born June 3, 1986) is a Dominican professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Big Al", Horford is a five-time NBA All-Star and is the highest paid L ...

in a game against the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. In his second consecutive start on March 16 against the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

, he had 20 points and 16 rebounds for his first career double-double, which he already notched by halftime with 14 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fourth straight game setting a career high in points, which set a Thunder team record. He also had five blocks to become just the second player in team history to record 20+ points, 15+ rebounds and 5+ blocks in a game. On March 27, Oklahoma City announced that Horford would sit out the rest of the season as the team prioritized developing its younger players. That evening, Brown had career-highs of 21 points and 23 rebounds in a loss to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. The rebounds tied a team record set by Steven Adams in 2018, and his 19 rebounds by halftime set a team record for rebounds in a half. Brown had the second-fastest double-double in Thunder history (8 minutes, 11 seconds). The following day, the Thunder announced that they had signed Brown to a multi-year, standard NBA contract. He had been averaging 12.4 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game since returning from the G League. In the season finale against the

, he had career-highs of 24 points and seven blocks, while also adding 18 rebounds. He ended the season with averages of 8.6 points and 8.9 rebounds.

Dallas Mavericks (2021–2022)

On June 18, 2021, Brown was traded to the

along with

and a 2025 second round pick in exchange for

Kemba Walker Kemba Hudley Walker (born May 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Walker was picked ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft. After gra ...

, the 16th pick of the

2021 NBA Draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

, and a 2025 second-rounder. On July 31, 2021, Brown was traded to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

in exchange for

Josh Richardson Joshua Michael Richardson (born September 15, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers, earning first-tea ...

. Dallas guaranteed his contract, but he did not develop into the player they expected. On February 10, 2022, he was waived by the Mavericks, freeing up a roster spot for them to trade

Kristaps Porziņģis Kristaps Porziņģis (; born 2 August 1995) is a Latvian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is one of the tallest active players in the NBA, standing at tall, and plays bo ...

Cleveland Cavaliers (2022)

On March 10, 2022, the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

announced that they had signed Brown to a 10-day contract, following an injury sustained by

Jarrett Allen Jarrett Allen (born April 21, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns. Allen was selected 22nd overall by ...

. He played in four games before re-signing with the Cavaliers on a second 10-day contract on March 21. On March 31, he signed a

with the Cavaliers and on April 10, they converted it into a standard contract.

Los Angeles Clippers (2022–present)

In July 2022, Brown signed a training camp contract with the

, which was later converted to a two-way contract with the

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 9 , , 0 , , 3.7 , , .400 , , , , .375 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, 43 , , 32 , , 21.4 , , .545 , , , , .619 , , 8.9 , , .2 , , .7 , , 1.1 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 26 , , 1 , , 6.5 , , .540 , , , , .628 , , 2.3 , , .0 , , .1 , , .3 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 14 , , 5 , , 12.6 , , .638 , , , , .597 , , 5.3 , , .0 , , .2 , , .4 , , 6.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 92 , , 38 , , 14.1 , , .554 , , , , .602 , , 5.8 , , .1 , , .4 , , .7 , , 6.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 31 , , 23.4 , , .607 , , , , .352 , , 8.3 , , .3 , , .6 , , 1.9 , , 9.7

Notes

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Moses 1999 births Living people American men's basketball players Archbishop Molloy High School alumni Basketball players from New York City Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Mavericks players Los Angeles Clippers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Oklahoma City Blue players Oklahoma City Thunder players Portland Trail Blazers players Sportspeople from Queens, New York Texas Legends players UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players