Shannon Brown Captures NBA Title With Lakers
6/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 16, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former Michigan State guard Shannon Brown has earned an NBA championship ring with the Los Angeles Lakers, as the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic on Sunday night to win the NBA Finals, 4-1. Throughout the playoffs, Brown was a regular contributor off the Laker bench, averaging 4.9 points and 13.1 minutes in 21 playoff games, shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 48.0 percent from 3-point range. He also averaged 1.2 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.5 steals. He appeared in every game through the first three rounds of the playoffs, and three contests in the NBA Finals.
"This is an unbelievable feeling," Brown told NBA.com after the series-clinching game. "For all the hard work you put in, it's really rewarding ... It's just a special moment."
Brown becomes the first Spartan to play for head coach Tom Izzo to win an NBA Championship ring, and the sixth in school history. He joins Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers - 1980, 82, 85, 87, 88), Steve Smith (San Antonio Spurs - 2003), Matt Steigenga (Chicago Bulls - 1997), Sam Vincent (Boston Celtics - 1986), Kevin Willis (San Antonio Spurs - 2003) as former Spartans who were part of NBA Championship teams.
In three years at Michigan State, Brown scored 1,183 career points, an average of 12.2 per contest. Individually, Brown's best season came during his junior year when he averaged 17.2 points in 2005-06, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. In 2005, he was a key part of MSU's Final Four squad, earning Most Outstanding Player honors for the Austin Regional after scoring 24 points in a 94-88 double overtime win over Kentucky.
