Bruce Brown Addresses Lu Dort's Reputation With NBA Referees

The Denver Nuggets were able to bounce back from a loss to take down the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, and 29-year-old guard Bruce Brown made a huge difference off the bench.

In the win, Brown dropped 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists, putting together his best performance of the season. Brown is a very familiar face in Denver after he was a big part of the 2023 championship team, and many fans were relieved when he re-signed this offseason. Now, Brown is back to being an important piece in Denver, and he showed it on Monday night.

After the win, Brown was asked about his physical defense, and he said that he wants to be physical early in the season so that he can build that reputation come playoff time, similar to Oklahoma City Thunder wing Lu Dort.

"Later in the season, they'll let things go just because [the referees] know you're a physical defender. Like, Lu Dort has a reputation of being a physical defender, so they don't really call much on him. So, [I'm] just trying to do that."

Can Brown build that same reputation?

Of course, any championship team wants a player like Lu Dort to enforce on defense and get away with some physicality, and the Nuggets would love for that guy to be Bruce Brown.

Brown is far from the same defender as Dort, but he is still vital to Denver's defensive system. If Brown can be how he was on Monday night for the entire season, then he will build that reputation with the NBA's referees heading into the playoffs. On top of that, if Brown is playing premier physical defense for Denver every night, it will undoubtedly help them win more games along the way.

Oct 29, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown (11) reacts after a play in the third quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Six games into the season, the Nuggets have the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA (OKC ranks first) with the second-best offensive rating (HOU ranks first). With this mix of offense and defense, the Nuggets can afford for Brown to take more chances as a physical defender, even if it leads to more fouls, as he attempts to build a Dort-like reputation.

The Nuggets are no strangers to Dort's defensive reputation, so if they have a Dort-like defender of their own, they are optimistically set for a title run.

Can Brown build that same reputation?

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