Inside The Huskies

It's Official: Keion Brooks is an NBA Player After Making Pelicans Debut

The 6-foot-7 swingman drew his first minutes against the Denver Nuggets on the road.
Dan Raley|
Keion Brooks Jr. made his debut for the New Orleans on Wednesday.
Keion Brooks Jr. made his debut for the New Orleans on Wednesday. | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

He wasn't on the floor long, but former University of Washington forward Keion Brooks made his NBA debut for the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, marking him down as official in the league record book.

The 6-foot-7 small forward drew just three minutes in a 144-119 loss to the Denver Nuggets on the road in Colorado. He didn't score a point, didn't even take a shot and registered no stats other than playing time.

However, Brooks, who came to the Pelicans as an undrafted free agent after spending time in the G League, forever will be known as an NBA player, even if he never gets into another game.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Brooks' good fortune came at the expense of another former Husky great, 6-foot-4 guard Dejounte Murray, who last week suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear for the Pelicans.

Brooks currently stands as one of just three ex-UW players actively playing in the league at this time, joining Jaden McDaniels, a 6-foot-9 starting forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Isaiah Stewart, a 6-foot-8 back-up forward for the Detroit Pistons.

McDaniels and Stewart, who each were one-and-done players for the Huskies in 2020, are playing in their fifth seasons in the league.

Besides Murray going down, 6-foot-5 Matisse Thuybulle hasn't appeared in a game yet this year for the Portland Trail Blazers after undergoing a knee procedure when the season began and spraining an ankle while trying to come back. Thybulle is a five-year NBA vet.

Brooks, who played the past two years at the UW after spending his first three at Kentucky, is the third former UW player to draw playing time in New Orleans this season. Along with Murray, 6-foot-4 shooting guard Jaylen Nowell was called up by the Pelicans for an eight-game stint in November before getting sent back to the G League.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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