It only took a matter of seconds for Brooklyn Nets fans to recognize Mikel Brown Jr. as the blue chip, potential franchise-carrying prospect they’ve been searching for. On his first Summer League possession, roughly 51 ticks into the game, he notched his first assist. The following time down the floor, about a minute later, he splashed his first three points.

That’s no disrespect to Egor Dëmin, the guy who hit him with a no-look feed to set up that first shot, or any of Brooklyn’s other young pieces. Brown Jr. just happens to be the team’s highest drafted player in over 15 years. There’s a certain kind of energy that’s created when a pick that high performs that well out of the gate.

But while he’s his team’s foundational building block, the 2025 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, a McDonald’s All-American, and member of the ACC All-Rookie team, there’s still more to Brown Jr. We got a glimpse of it this week when he sat down with Sarah Kustok of The YES Network in a new Nets Pod episode.

“You could say since I was born,” Brown Jr. said after Kustok asked when his love for the game began. “My parents, my parents were sports oriented. My mom was volleyball, dad was basketball. They were both still in college at the time when they had me, so I kind of had the ball into my hand right away. My dad and mom put the ball in my crib right away, and you know I never looked back.”

Brown Jr.’s dad played college ball at the University of West Florida. His mother went to St. Petersburg. Between their tutelage, and with what he could gather from watching game growing up, Brown Jr. made it clear he’s had an abundance basketball figures to look up to and learn from throughout his life. He listed just about every point guard you’d like to hear when talking about the players he’s aimed to model his game off of — even while still expressing an intent to maintain some originality.

“I honestly don’t watch one person because I want to be the best version of myself,” he said. “I really like take pieces of everybody else’s game. I used to watch, I still do watch Steve Nash, [Rajon] Rondo, Chris Paul. Then nowadays, you got [Jalen] Brunson, Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], Tyrese Maxey, Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell Dame [Lillard], and like everybody. I watch every single guard, even the the great defensive guards like Davion Mitchell, Jrue Holliday, Cason Wallace, and how they guard. I literally study from everybody on the court just to try to pick up the really good tendencies that they have and try to implement into my game.”

Brown already seems to be a fan of his new backcourt mate as well. When Kustok asked about his relationship with Dëmin, he called it “great” and Dëmin his “dog.”

”We joke all the time,“ Brown Jr. said. “I don’t know if y’all seen it during the game. We were going back and forth all the time during the game, just joking around. That relationship is great. I think we kind of understand that me and him are kind of the young guns coming up, and just looking to get better. And looking to make each other better as well. Me and him could testify to this, that my job is to make life easier on him, and his job is to make life easier on me. So that bond clicked right away.”

Brown Jr. also praised the Brooklyn front office and coaching staff. He’s still keeping it formal with Sean Marks as well.

“Just great people, just great people to you know be around, and great people to also learn from,” Brown Jr. said. “You know, Jordi [Fernández], Mr. Marks, and BJ [Armstrong], and every everybody, Coach Jay [Hernandez], and the whole staff. It’s just really great people that you could learn from every single day, because they’ve been around greatness. So, to be able to pick their brains every single day, watch film with Jay and and CV [Corey Vinson] and all those guys, it’s gonna help me in the long run.”

Brown went on to call Fernández a “player’s coach,” and noted that they share similar intentions with how they approach the game of basketball.

“He knows what I’m capable of on the offensive end. He’s been pushing me on the defensive end a lot, and it’s been helping me.”

Brown Jr. said he ran into Fernández in the elevator on the way to his interview with Kustok.

“We both said we can’t wait for tomorrow, to get back on the court and hooping,” Brown Jr. said. “But yeah, that relationship is great. I mean, he hit me right after the draft when I went to go see my sister, and I came back, and he asked me, “Did did we win? Like, did we win?,’ because it’s like a family. So man, I can’t wait to play for him this year.”

For those who don’t know, Brown Jr.’s sister, Arianna, is a volleyball player who assumedly had a game that night.

Brown Jr. and Kustok eventually got into his superlatives. His favorite food is a Sofrito Chicken dish with rice and beans made by his mother. His favorite artist is Michael Jackson, and there really isn’t anyone close. Brown Jr. wasn’t born until 23 years after Thriller came out, but found a way into the pop king’s fandom nonetheless. He couldn’t recall exactly how he got there, but credited his parents.

“I don’t remember as a kid, but I feel like they turned it on on a Sunday. You know, Sunday is cleaning day in the household. So my mama would turn music on on the TV, and I feel like she played Michael Jackson one day, and it has stuck with me ever since.”

Brown Jr. then got into his love of fishing, specifically freshwater. He also touched on his early appreciation for Brooklyn as a borough, and the man who helped bring the Nets there.

“Brooklyn is a historical like figure, like city. I mean, there’s so many legends that’ve come from there,” he said. “One of my favorite legends, and arguably my favorite artist besides Michael Jackson, because Michael Jackson’s in another tier, is Jay Z. Jay Z’s from there, and I listen to him a lot. I go back to his lyrics. He says some meaningful things in his music that’s very powerful. So, I mean, just to get the feel for the city, you know, go out, go walk around, and go scope the scenery out.”

The guard then touched on his video game interests, multi-sport talents, drawing, and cooking capabilities. You can check out the rest conversation below.