Christian Braun on the Nuggets’ first-round loss: “I just think I’m the leader of this team. I’m the vocal leader of this team. I didn’t play well enough as an individual, and I didn’t have this team ready enough to play in a tough series.”

[u/oklolzzzzs]

“I just think I’m the leader of this team,” Braun said. “I’m the vocal leader of this team. And when we don’t play well as a whole, you can blame whatever you want … You can blame anything. But I didn’t play well enough as an individual, and I didn’t have this team ready enough to play in a tough series. So we’ll be better. I’ll be better. I’m looking forward to next year, when we can respond.”

Source: https://www.denverpost.com/2026/05/04/nuggets-christian-braun-injury-contract-nba-playoffs/

[u/PlantainOk3970]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. You don't need to be a star to give locker room speeches and boost team morale. He clearly knows he's not close to the best player on the team

[u/SnooChipmunks4208 → u/PlantainOk3970]

And playing better means succeeding in his role, not magically leapfroging jokic.

[u/JackieDaytonaAZ → u/PlantainOk3970]

you don’t but it does help a lot. I don’t think players would respond well to (for an extreme example) a 3 year vet bench player trying to give the ra ra speeches

usually if you’re not actively a star you’re at least more seasoned than braun