For Mikel Brown Jr., his name means everything ahead of NBA draft

CHICAGO – For highly regarded NBA draft prospect Mikel Brown Jr., there will be a lot of pride for himself and his family when he runs down the court with his name on the back of his jersey next season.

When the NBA draft arrives on June 23, the former University of Louisville guard will find out which jersey will bear his last name.

“It means everything to carry that name,” Brown Jr. told Andscape on May 11 during the NBA Pre-Draft Camp. “God bless, my great-grandfather passed away last year. And we went to his funeral, and [my dad] kept saying, ‘He’s the reason, he’s the reason why your last name is Brown.’ I carry that [obituary notice] that they gave us. It sits in one of my roller bags. So, I see it every time I take stuff out.

“Arthur Brown is his name. And [my dad] said, ‘You see that last name, you’re carrying it.’ You continue that legacy, to carry that on my back. And for my sister and my brother, it’s an honor.”

Said Mikel’s father, Christopher Brown Sr.: “That Brown name, all of us wear it. So, it’s super dope. I can’t explain it, though. It’s gonna be unexplainable.”

Brown averaged 18.2 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in 21 games for the Cardinals during the 2025-26 season. The 6-foot-5, 190-pounder had a lower back injury and missed 14 games, including the NCAA tournament and Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. He said the back is fine now.

Last season, Brown scored a season-high 45 points against N.C. State on Feb. 9, tying the Cardinals’ single-game scoring record set by Wes Unseld in 1967 and setting a freshman record for both the program and the ACC.

The 2026 All-ACC third-team selection was named ACC Player of the Week after the performance. However, Brown believes his breakthrough performance came in the third game of the season when he had 29 points in a 96-88 win against in-state rival Kentucky on Nov. 11.

Andscape is celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday with a Q&A series including some of the 2026 NBA draft’s top prospects and their fathers. The first day of the draft is Tuesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The fathers and sons who participated include the Browns; former Arkansas guard Darius Acuff, Jr., and his father, Darius Acuff, Sr.; former Tennessee forward Nate Ament and his father, Albert Ament; former Duke center Cameron Boozer and his father, former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer; former BYU forward AJ Dybantsa and his father, Anicet “Ace” Dybantsa Sr.; and former Houston guard Kingston Flemings and his father, Demetric “Dee” Flemings.

In this Q&A series, the fathers and soon-to-be-drafted sons discuss their relationship through basketball, life lessons, the perceptions of Black fatherhood, their excitement and anxiety toward the draft, what NBA teams are getting on and off the court, and much more.

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What is your first recollection of putting a ball in his hand?

Brown Sr.: In the crib. Kel was born ’06. I was in my junior year [of college] going into my senior year. So, he was born in April. I had to catch a bus down to see him born. So, when he was born, I ended up going back, probably like three days later, and I came back. I’m like, ‘Yo, this kid has changed so much.’ So, I knew how much I loved the game. I was like, ‘Yeah, I guess he’s going to be a ball player. Let’s put a ball in the crib.’ And man, he hasn’t looked back since. So, it was in the crib from the beginning.

At what point did you know your son could be an NBA player?

Brown Sr.: When he was born, I sat out a year of college basketball. So, I had my senior year left. When I went back to play, Kel used to run up and down the sidelines all the time. So, I remember we were playing at Valdosta State. I ended up playing at West Florida. And my pops said, ‘Son, before doing warm-ups, he’s moving around, he’s playing around the whole time.’ He said, ‘But as soon as that ball is tipped, he froze and just stopped and watched the game.’ This was at 2 or 3.

I remember us going to watch the Orlando Magic play the Boston Celtics in Orlando because we took a Disney World trip. And he’s sitting on my lap. I just [recently posted] a picture because it was literally 17 years ago. And the game started and he didn’t want to eat or nothing. And he just froze. He’s watching the game the whole time. And I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, this kid is locked in. He really loves the game.’ So, it was around that time, about [age] 3.”

What kind of push has your father given you in this game?

Brown Jr.: A lot of push, honestly. I was going back to when I was a kid, just putting the ball in my hands early. Watching him play. When he’d go play pickup, he’d bring me. I’ll be on the other side, playing on the smaller hoop, always playing pickup, playing with the other little kids. He’s been there every step of the way. And he’s the one that just keeps me down to earth, too. He’s not going to let me get big-headed as everybody knows. He just keeps me leveled and keeps me focused on the main goal.

Are you a tough-love basketball dad? How would you describe the basketball dad you are?

Brown Sr.: I’m a tough-love [dad], for sure. But who’s the biggest jokester in the house? I’m the biggest jokester in the house. We wrestle. We do everything together. So, one of the things with both my boys is I’m hard on the court with them, extremely hard. But we have so many conversations in the car on the ride home. So, I help them understand why I’m that way.

There’s been times that I’ve been very tough. The pillow talk comes from the wife, and she goes, ‘Baby, you were a little tough today.’ And I’m like, ‘Babe, I know it hurts me a little bit more than it hurts them. But this is going to help them long term.’ So, definitely a tough-love guy.

What were some of the days you look back at now, where at that time you didn’t understand? Maybe you were like, ‘The hell with this,’ and now looking back you’re like, “OK, it makes sense.”

Brown Jr.: My middle school years I just couldn’t understand it. I’d just get mad. And it actually helps because if he does what he does, it fires me up to go even harder. Or in the game, if he senses like you are [not playing hard], he’ll [say something]. Then I will get out on the court and now I’m just mad. I just tap into a different mode on the court. And he’ll be like, ‘I need that from the jump. I shouldn’t have to do that for you to be like that.’

So, it definitely dates back to middle school. I would be like, ‘This makes no sense.’ But now it’s all paid off. And he called it. He said it. I remember in seventh grade, he said, ‘I got five years. I’m going to turn you into a millionaire when you hit college.’ When he said that I was like, ‘Let’s do it. I’m in.’ And it’s what he did. It’s what we did.

Brown Sr.: He loved to come watch me play. He was reading this book that had LeBron [James], Melo [Carmelo Anthony], T-Mac [Tracy McGrady], Amare Stoudemire in it. And it was talking about a couple of those guys going to the NBA from high school. So, I remember where we were. We were on Curry Ford [Road] and Dean [Road] in Orlando, and he was sitting in the front seat. And he’s reading the book, and he stops and says, ‘Hey dad, if I go to the NBA from high school then I don’t have to go to college?

I know my kids don’t like school, and I knew you had to go to school. I’m like, ‘Nah, you got to go to school, buddy.’ And he starts rocking his head. So, I’m looking at him, I can see the wheels turning. But I remember during that time in middle school he struggled with how hard I was on him. So, let me really break it down to him. I say, ‘Look, man, if you stop crying when I get on your butt, if you lock in, you lock in with me, and you give me your undivided attention, just do everything that I tell you to do, I will turn you into a millionaire and you do whatever you want to do with your money. I don’t care. I don’t want nothing. I don’t need nothing from you. But if you lock in, you’ll see your dreams come true.

He looked at me, he’s like, ‘Let’s do it, Dad.’ Kel used to cry all the time in the huddles when he was younger. Oh my God. I used to call timeout just to chew him out. And he’ll start crying. Tears start coming down his eyes. But he’s pissed at me. So, I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know what he’s about to do now. I don’t know who’s guarding him, but they are about to get it.’ He’s coming out of the huddle a totally different kid. So, I told him, ‘If you stop crying, you just give me your undivided attention, trust me and what I’m telling you.’

I just knew where my shortcomings were. And I knew what I needed. And I always said this, ‘When you get kids, man, you get a second chance at life.’ I call it perfecting your imperfections through your kids. Each one of my kids has a different part of me that I’m trying to perfect. They’ll never be perfect, but I’m spending every day trying to help them perfect those imperfections. And I just knew what he needed. That’s what I needed when I was growing up: somebody just to be on me. But be there, T-H-E-R-E. Be there every step of the way. And he just stopped crying.

In middle school, I spent the hardest time on him because he was small. And he had lost a step because his feet started growing. So, I knew in order for you to keep up, I got to keep you fired up. So, it was probably our toughest time. And it’s a thin line as a father between you pushing them and it becomes ‘I just don’t like my dad.’ I used to teeter those lines. I know I did. I wanted to see how far it can go. I don’t think neither one of us would change it when you look back at it.

Have you had those talks with your sons about being young boys of color and the potential challenges of racism?

Brown Sr.: We’ve had those talks with him and his brother multiple times. And we talk about everything in the car. My wife don’t even know half the conversations we talk about. Me and my boys talk and I’m very open. I’m very open about stuff like that, and I joke about it. I always tell them, ‘If the cops get behind me, don’t you snitch because I’m getting out and I’m running.’ It’s joking, but I always teach them about how to carry yourself in situations like that. Sometimes it finds you when you’re not looking for it or you’re not even trying to put yourself in that position. But I always believe, man, it’s just how you talk, how you carry yourself, how you look, your appearance, what you got going on around you, that will help in situations like that. And we have plenty of conversations about that. Plenty. It’s constant.

It don’t hit you when he’s young, it hits you when you start to see him at this age. And I joke with my wife all the time, ‘I didn’t have gray hair until he got to being out of the house.’ It’s sleepless nights. She always says, ‘Pop, you got to sleep.’ I don’t sleep because I can literally feel him gradually getting older and about to leave the house. And it’s all those things that go through your head as a Black father knowing that it’s a possibility. But I believe that we raised him in a certain way that he knows when to be home, how to avoid situations like that, how to carry himself, and how to talk to people. One of the biggest things is it’s just a conversation. Non-threatening. He has a very non-threatening approach about himself except when he dunks on people.

What is the perception and reality of Black fatherhood?

Brown Sr.: I hope we got time. It’s tough. That’s a deep question. I constantly have conversations with my wife, my boys or even my guys that I talk to. I’m an urban Black kid from Columbia, South Carolina. Although my father was in the city, I didn’t grow up with my father in the house. I grew up in a neighborhood that they tore down when I was in ninth grade. The perception is that we’re all the same. No one person is the same.

I’ve never smoked or drank in my life. I don’t party. When you see me, my face will come off as if I’m hard to deal with or I’m not approachable. But I’m the biggest jokester out of everyone. When you have a kid, you have a player, you have an athlete and you’re a father that’s omnipresent, they always deem you to be hard to deal with when you’re there like that. If you see my kids, if you see me, you’re going to see my other kids and my wife. And I’m very direct. I always believe that if you have to lie to someone, you fear them or you fear the outcome of something. So, I’m always blunt and honest, and always expect the same thing back.

You come off hard to deal with as a Black father. You only see it with us because when you see other ethnicities, parents involved in their kids that’s going through this process, it’s great. But when you see someone of this [skin] tone, it’s like, ‘OK, well, we got to go really check his background. What is he? What does he do? Why is he like this?’ And they never understand that we just want the same treatment as everyone else, the same common respect as everyone else. I’m just like any other parent. I want the best for his kid. I’m going to be there, and if I feel like it’s not the best situation for my kid, it’s my job as a parent to remove my kid and put him in the best situation that I deem is the best situation.

It may not look like it makes sense at that time. You take Kel. Kel’s been to four schools in four years in high school. But every school we went to our plan was to stay there the whole time. But I’m a very direct person. If you lie to me one time, I can’t trust you to tell me the truth the next time. So, ‘OK, well, we’re going to move.’ And I’ve always been bold enough in my field of what the vision is coming from the Most High to me in making that move.

So, it comes off where, ‘The dad is hard to deal with. The dad is too controlling. Well, you can’t get close to ‘Kel.’ I’m one of those guys that’s direct and I’m honest. Give me your word, I’m gonna give you mine. Live up to your word, and I live up to mine. And I think we just get a bad rep as parents. But rightfully so, in some ways, right? There are some situations that you’d be like, ‘OK, well, that’s just a rough situation.’ But we all get grouped into it. But we all are not the same. And when I tell you I’ve been there, I’ve been there.

And not to go too long into it, Kel lived in the dorms with me some my senior year (in college). I used to take Kel to practice. I used to take care of him in the classrooms with him watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I’m taking a test. I had a final exam my senior year, and the teacher wanted me to come back and take the exam by myself. He knew I was failing in the class, my math class. Brought Kel with me in the class in his office. And he stopped and said, ‘That’s your boy.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s my boy.’ He’s an African guy. Dr. Newby. I’ll never forget him. He said, ‘I tell you what, if you promise me you’ll take your kid everywhere you go, every time you get out to bed and your feet touch the ground, his feet touch the ground, you take your boy everywhere you go, you can write on the back of this test whatever grade you want. But you got to make that promise before you write on the back of this test. You are going take your boy everywhere you go, and you will not miss anything.’

I looked at him, I’m like, ‘I need this B-plus to pass this class, man.’ I put the B-plus . He took the B-plus. He said, ‘You said you made a promise.’ I’ve been everywhere. All my kids, everywhere. Don’t miss anything. So, that’s the part that they don’t see behind the scenes. They don’t see inside the house. I probably joke too much in the house. I’m the biggest jokester in the house outside of the game. I probably play too much. My wife probably like, ‘You play too much.’ But when it’s time on the court, it’s business. When you’ve been through some of the things I’ve had growing up, you learn and navigate through the space. And you understand where my faults were. So, I want to make sure I guide them the right way.

So, you talk to these teams and they ask you, ‘On and off the court, why should we draft you?’ What do you say?

Brown Jr.: First and foremost, I’m going do anything it takes to win. And then on top of that, just being an impact guy. Coming in and making an impact right away, whether that’s just in different ways. Creating scoring, being a leader. Also, being there for my teammates off the court as well. I think that goes unnoticed, that nobody talks about. Just being there for your teammates, checking in on them mentally, seeing how they’re doing. And obviously, going into this league, you got veterans that you can learn from as well, just picking their brain and asking them questions. Just learning more about the game. Just being a sponge and then doing what I do best.

What makes you excited, and what gives you a little anxiety about the NBA draft day?

Brown Jr.: My adrenaline is going to be pumping, for sure. But the little kid in me would be screaming and running around and yelling because this is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a newborn. The love that I have for this game, I can’t even begin to measure it. So, it’s definitely gonna be a lot of adrenaline. I’m going to have to try to calm myself down when my name gets called. Just looking back on the years of all the hard work, the ups and downs and the adversity that not only me but my family had to face for me to get to this point; it’s all going to be worth it at the end.

I don’t know if you noticed the draft is two days after Father’s Day. What do you think about that?

Brown Jr.: Well, in our household, every day is Mother’s Day and every day is Father’s Day for us. So, obviously, it’s special day for us. But we look at every single day as appreciation to him, appreciation to my mother as well — every single day for us.

What do you appreciate most about your father?

Brown Jr.: Just [him] being who he is. People don’t really realize this: He’s my trainer, he’s my father, and he’s my barber — cuts my hair. He’s been my everything. My mom has been my rock supporter. Him specifically, though, just being that fire up under the engine. Just making sure constantly that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Staying on my P’s and Q’s. Staying out of trouble. And just remaining humble. And I probably say that’s one thing that he’s just done, and he’s been there every step of the way.

Have people tried to get around him to get to you, Mikel?

Brown Jr.: Absolutely, absolutely. Simple as that. Go to him. Listen, there has been plenty of people that have done that, and I said, ‘No, you got to talk to my father. You ain’t about to go around and beat the bushes to try to get to me. No. You got to go through him as well. You got to talk to him as well.’ I’m going to him for all the advice. Anything you tell me, I’m telling him. That’s just how I am.

When he goes to the league, what teachings — and I’m not talking about basketball — but what teachings are you confident he’ll have with him when he goes to becomes a professional?

Brown Sr.: One of my favorite sayings is, ‘It costs you nothing to be a good person, but it can cost you everything if you’re not.’ Be a good dude, stand-up dude, honest dude, no matter what the outcome comes out to be and everything else will take care of itself because you’re gonna be a professional at life longer than you’re going to be at the game of basketball. But it can cost you everything if you’re not a good dude. That’s my biggest thing. And a blessing may come through you, but the purpose is bigger than you.

Brown Jr.: He’s said so many quotes.

Brown Sr.: If you keep those things in perspective, you always understand, man. Each day is its own day, and no one person is bigger than the other. Carry yourself that way, and you’ll always keep yourself out of trouble. So that’s something I always want him to take with him, all my kids.”

When you see that ‘Brown Jr.’ on the back of the jersey running up and down the court in NBA, what would that mean to you?

Brown Sr: That’s tough, man. It’s funny. This is where I give my wife the props and the love. I didn’t want to name him after me. I wanted to name my youngest son after me. I wanted to give him a different name, and she said, ‘No, he’s going be named after you.’ I was like, ‘All right.’

When you hear [rapper] ‘Lil Wayne’ say, ‘Don’t forget the J-R, right.’ Don’t forget the J-R. It’s going to be dope. It’s going to be surreal. It’s going to be fun. You hear people say, ‘Don’t live vicariously through your kid.’ I think that’s a dumb saying. The people that said that are the ones that are really trying to find a way to live vicariously through the kid, or want to get closer to the kid. I am living through all three of my kids. Absolutely, I am. ‘Hey man, go have some fun. Hey man, I had a dream that I was dunking. I woke up, it was you, man. I had a dream I caught some [putback dunk] off the rim. I woke up, it was you.’ Absolutely, I’m living through you. I’m jumping up. But you never see me jump up in the stands. You don’t see me do that. But I’m doing cartwheels inside. ‘Did you see that?’ With my boys and my daughter, I go back and watch their film all night. I can watch the same clip probably 3,000 times over and over because it’s surreal

I’m so blessed to be able to have four people in my house that I know admire me, So, I make sure I hold that standard of just carrying myself the right way everywhere. And it’s not only going to be for me, man, it’s going to be for my wife. It’s going to be for my daughter, my youngest son, because the amount of sacrifices that they make for not only him but for me to be gone with him. Usually when you have one kid that’s getting so much attention, there’s some jealousy that comes from other kids. Not one of my kids are like that. The blessing part of being in this position, and knowing that your brother and your sister have no jealousy towards you is much bigger than what people really give credit for. So, it’s gonna be surreal.

Are you being slept on in this NBA draft?

Brown Jr.: I’ve been slept on my whole basketball career, so it’s nothing new to me, honestly. I’m going to go out there and do what I do best. And if people like it, cool. If people don’t, fine by me.

You got this fire in you. I’ve seen it in your game. And I feel like because of the time off last season due to your back injury, people didn’t fully see it. But do you feel like you got a little chip right now?

Brown Jr.: Absolutely. I always have that any situation I go to. So, but yeah, as of right now — and I don’t want to be cocky when I say this — I don’t think I had a really good season. Even when I did play, it’s just me. It’s just my expectation that I set myself to. So, I know what I’m capable of, and you know, people have seen it through the 45-point game, the UK game. You’ve seen it. That’s the expectation I have for myself, and I want to do that every single game. So, it’s an expectation that I set myself to.