Why NBA Championship Trophy Could Be In Boston Area This Summer

The Celtics did not win the 2023 NBA championship, but the Larry O'Brien Trophy nonetheless could inhabit Boston sometime in the coming months.

That's the hope for Bruce Brown, who on Monday helped the Nuggets win their first title in franchise history. Brown hails from Dorchester, Mass., and as he explained to The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn after Denver's title-sealing win, he'd like to bring the championship hardware back to his hometown "so young kids see what can happen when you dream."

Brown's dreams of playing in the NBA started at Wakefield Memorial High School in Wakefield, Mass., where he played both basketball and football. The 26-year-old went on to finish high school at Vermont Academy before playing two collegiate seasons for the Miami Hurricanes. The Pistons used the 42nd overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft on Brown, who played two seasons in Detroit and a pair for the Brooklyn Nets before latching on with the Nuggets last July.

Brown isn't the only member of these Nuggets with Boston ties. Veteran forward Jeff Green won the first championship of his lengthy NBA career 16 years as he was drafted fifth overall by the Celtics, who looped the Georgetown product into a Draft Day trade for Ray Allen. Green ultimately returned to Boston and played parts of four seasons with the C's in the early 2010s.