Marcus James Brown (born April 3, 1974) is a retired 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. At 6'3" (1.91 m) tall, he played as a

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

. A three time

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an EuroLeague awards, award for European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 se ...

selection, Brown has been mentioned as being one of the top U.S. players ever to play abroad. Brown ended his career as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

with Žalgiris Kaunas in 2011. Brown was the EuroLeague's career scoring leader since the year 2000, when he ended his career in October 2011. As far as United States players only are concerned, Brown remains the league's all-time scoring leader since the year 2000, when the league's current organizer (

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball is the private company that runs and operates the top continental-wide basketball men's professional sports club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has been org ...

) took over the competition.

College career

Brown 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 ...

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

, in the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

. In his senior season, he averaged 26.4 points per game, on 50 percent shooting from the field, and 42 percent shooting from 3-point range. It was announced in October 2009, that Brown was named to the Murray State University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on February 6, 2010. That same night, his No. 5 jersey was retired by Murray State, and is hanging in the rafters at the

CFSB Center The CFSB Center is an 8,600-seat arena located in Murray, Kentucky near the intersection of Ky. 121 and U.S. 641. The arena is the home of the Murray State Racers Basketball teams. It was previously known as the Regional Special Events Center, or ...

Professional career

Brown was selected with the 17th pick of the 2nd round, in the

1996 NBA Draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball play ...

, by the

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 ...

club 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 played the 1996–97 NBA season with the Trail Blazers, where he averaged 4 points per game, in 9 minutes per game, while shooting 41 percent from 3 point range, in his rookie season. He then signed with the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

for the 1997–98 season, but he did not play in any regular season games for them. After being released by the Grizzlies, during the 1997–98 NBA season, he signed with the French League club ÉB Pau-Orthez, for the remainder of the 1997–98 season. He averaged 20.5 points per game in the French League with Pau-Orthez, and led them to the 1998 French League championship. Unfortunately, Brown

tore Tore is a Scandinavian masculine name. It is derived from the Old Norse name ''Thórir'', which is composed of ''thorr'' which means thunder, and ''arr'' which means warrior. So Thunder Warrior or Thor's Warrior. The most famous person by this nam ...

the ACL in his knee in the final game of the French playoffs. Brown took off the entire 1998–99 season to rehab his knee injury. He then played in the NBA again, with the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

, at the start of the 1999–00 season. The Pistons released him in 1999, after he played with the club in 6 regular season games. He then returned to the French League, where he signed with

CSP Limoges Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

for the remainder of the 1999–00 season. With Limoges, he won the French League championship, the

French Cup The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professiona ...

title, and the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

championship. He was named the French League Foreign Player's MVP. After having a lot of success in the French League for 2 seasons, he then moved up to the higher level

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

, where he signed with the Italian EuroLeague club Benetton Treviso for the 2000–01 season. With Benetton he played in the EuroLeague for the first time, and he averaged 19.9 points per game that season in the EuroLeague. After that season, he signed with one of the biggest clubs in the EuroLeague, the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

club Efes Pilsen. Over the next two seasons with Efes, Brown was very successful in Turkey, as he won the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

, and 2

national championships. He was also named to the 2002–03 season's

All-EuroLeague Second Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

, after he averaged 19.6 points per game. Brown then moved to the

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

powerhouse

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, where he signed a contract that made him the highest paid American basketball player in Europe at that time. Over the next two seasons with CSKA, he was quite successful in Russia, as he won the Russian Cup, 2 Russian National Championships, and the Russian Super League A Player of the Year award in 2004. He was also named to the 2003–04 season's All-EuroLeague First Team and to the 2004–05 season's All-EuroLeague Second Team, while he was a member of CSKA. Brown then spent the next two seasons playing with

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...

of the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

, where over those 2 years he would play alongside fellow ex-

players

Daniel Santiago Daniel Gregg Santiago (born June 24, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. A center, he had a collegiate career in the NCAA and NAIA. His professional career saw him play in the NBA, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of ...

, Pepe Sánchez,

Jorge Garbajosa Jorge Garbajosa Chaparro (born December 19, 1977), also known as The Pornoplayer, is a Spanish former professional basketball player and the current president of the Spanish Basketball Federation. Standing at 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in), he p ...

, and

Jiří Welsch Jiří Welsch () (born 27 January 1980) is a Czech former professional basketball player for BK Pardubice of the Czech Republic National Basketball League. He has also represented the senior Czech Republic national basketball team. Welsch has ...

. He helped to lead Unicaja Málaga to its first ever Spanish League national championship, during the 2005–06 season. After spending two seasons with Málaga, Brown joined the Lithuanian League club Žalgiris Kaunas. With Zalgiris, in the 2007–08 season, Brown won the Lithuanian League national championship, the Lithuanian Cup title, and the

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinav ...

championship, all in the same season. He was also named the MVP of the Lithuanian League playoff finals that season. On October 19, 2008, Brown was loaned from ( Žalgiris) and signed with the EuroLeague club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

of the Israeli League, for the 2008–09 season, and with them he won yet another national domestic championship, in May 2009. Brown rejoined ( Žalgiris) in 2009, and helped the team win the

BBL Cup The British Basketball League Cup, often shortened to the BBL Cup, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripheral c ...

. In his final season, Brown helped Žalgiris win the triple crown in Lithuania, winning the LKF Cup, LKL championship and the BBL. On November 25, 2009, Brown became one of four players who had managed to make 300 or more three point shots in the EuroLeague at that time, counting only records since the year 2000.

Post-career honors

On October 17, 2011, his former team, Žalgiris Kaunas, held a ceremony to honor Brown during the halftime of the opening night of the 2011–12 season, in the club's new 15,552 seat arena in

Kaunas, Lithuania Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Traka ...

. In January 2013, the

Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame is the hall of fame and museum for sports in Arkansas, United States. The hall of fame inducted its first class in 1959. The hall's museum is located on the west end of the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. ...

announced that Brown would be honored as a member of the class of 2013 inductees which included Dallas Cowboy owner

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones (born October 13, 1942) is an American businessman who has been the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) since February 1989. Early life Jones was born in Los Ange ...

Player profile

Brown, who during his playing career, was a 6'3" (191 cm) tall

, scored more points than any other U.S. player in the EuroLeague, counting only

EuroLeague records since the 2000–01 season The EuroLeague is the highest level tier and most important professional club competition between basketball teams in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, from members of FIBA Europe, mostly consisting of teams from ULEB member ...

, with 2,739 career points scored. He was also the league's leading scorer overall, since the year 2000, at the time that he retired from the league, in 2011. A high-quality player, who was always able to make a big impact in top-level European teams, Brown played at the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. He also earned

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

selections in the 2002–03, 2003–04, and 2004–05 seasons. He was selected to the All-EuroLeague Second Team for the 2002–03 season, when he played for Efes Pilsen, and he was selected to the All-EuroLeague First Team for the 2003–04 season, and to the Second Team for the 2004–05 season, when he played for

. He was nominated for the 2008 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors list, although he was not selected to the final list. He also nominated for the EuroLeague 2000–10 All-Decade Team, however he was not selected to the final list.

Personal achievements and awards

* 1999–00 French League Foreign Player's MVP (

) * 2001–02 EuroLeague Round 19 MVP ( Efes Pilsen) * 2002–03

Second Team (Efes Pilsen) * 2002–03 EuroLeague Round 17 MVP (Efes Pilsen) * 2003–04 All-EuroLeague First Team (

) * 2003–04 Russian Super League A Player of the Year * 2004–05 EuroLeague April MVP (CSKA Moscow) * 2004–05 All-EuroLeague Second Team (CSKA Moscow) * 2007–08 EuroLeague December MVP ( Žalgiris) * 2007–08 Lithuanian League Finals MVP (Žalgiris) * 2009–10

Finals MVP (Žalgiris)

Club titles won

* 1997–98 French League ( ÉB Pau-Orthez) * 1999–00

(

) * 1999–00 French League (CSP Limoges) * 1999–00

(CSP Limoges) * 2001–02

( Efes Pilsen) * 2001–02

(Efes Pilsen) * 2003–04 Russian League (

) * 2004–05 Russian League (CSKA Moscow) * 2004–05 Russian Cup (CSKA Moscow) * 2005–06 Spanish League (

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

) * 2007–08 Lithuanian Cup ( Žalgiris) * 2007–08

(Žalgiris) * 2007–08 Lithuanian League (Žalgiris) * 2008–09 Israeli League (

) * 2009–10 Baltic Cup ( Žalgiris) * 2009–10

(Žalgiris) * 2010–11 Lithuanian Cup ( Žalgiris) * 2010–11

(Žalgiris) * 2010–11 Lithuanian League (Žalgiris)

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;", Benetton , 10 , , 8 , , 35.3 , , .496 , , .424 , , .875 , , 3.1 , , 2.8 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 20.3 , , 21.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;", Efes Pilsen , 19 , , 17 , , 34.9 , , .453 , , .423 , , .880 , , 2.9 , , 3.4 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 17.5 , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Efes Pilsen , 19 , , 17 , , 35.4 , , .513 , , .442 , , .843 , , 2.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 19.6 , , 21.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 21 , , 21 , , 34.3 , , .510 , , .382 , , .880 , , 2.3 , , 4.2 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 18.7 , , 21.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;", CSKA , 24 , , 24 , , 32.4 , , .428 , , .330 , , .804 , , 2.9 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 16.0 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;",

Unicaja Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the n ...

, 20 , , 20 , , 31.9 , , .434 , , .368 , , .845 , , 2.7 , , 2.5 , , .7 , , .3 , , 15.3 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Unicaja , 8 , , 2 , , 19.2 , , .354 , , .350 , , .938 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .0 , , 7.0 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 20 , , 20 , , 29.9 , , .474 , , .418 , , .906 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , .2 , , 14.4 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 16 , , 15 , , 29.7 , , .478 , , .417 , , .782 , , 2.3 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .0 , , 12.3 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 16 , , 16 , , 25.4 , , .393 , , .397 , , .936 , , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , .1 , , 11.6 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 6 , , 3 , , 16.3 , , .235 , , .308 , , 1.000 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.7 , , -.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 179 , , 163 , , 31.0 , , .458 , , .395 , , .857 , , 2.5 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 15.3 , , 15.4

NBA

, - , align="left" , 1996–97 , 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 ...

, 21 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .400 , , .406 , , .684 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, 6 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .286 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 27 , , 0 , , 8.5 , , .381 , , .333 , , .714 , , .8 , , .9 , , .3 , , .0 , , 3.4

References and notes

* * *