KU’s Christian Braun had one regret after posterizing Rudy Gobert in Nuggets-Wolves game

Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun regrets losing his composure after dunking in the face of Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in the closing minutes of the Nuggets’ 119-116 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

“I’ve got to be more responsible,” said Braun, whose Nuggets bounced back with a 129-103 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night in Denver to improve to 3-3 on the season.

“It’s two points. Obviously, those are the plays you want to make and those are the momentum plays I want to make, but getting a technical throws the momentum their way, so I’ve got to do a better job of controlling myself,” he added in an interview reported by ESPN.com and the Denver Post.

Braun, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound, 23-year-old former University of Kansas and Blue Valley Northwest High standout, had what’s been deemed the best dunk of the young 2024-25 NBA season on Friday. He charged from the top of the key through the lane while dribbling with his left hand, then slammed two-handed over four-time NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert with 5:14 left and Denver up (after the poster slam), 110-102.

Braun screamed, flexed and walked past the baseline into the path of Gobert, who wrapped his left arm around the neck of the third-year pro and effectively moved him back onto the court.

Braun’s teammate, Russell Westbrook, charged into the fray in an attempt to support Braun. He and some other players from both teams made sure to separate the players to avoid any escalation. The refs assessed technical fouls to both Braun and Gobert — Braun for his “unsportsmanlike act of taunting,” and Gobert for the “illegal physical contact during a deadball.”

Minnesota responded to the play better than Denver, outscoring the Nuggets 17-6 the rest of the way.

“I’ve got to be better,” said Braun, who told ESPN.com and the Denver Post he failed to effectively guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who hit a pair of 3s over Braun to key the Wolves’ comeback win.

“The reason I get so hyped up after that is that’s the best rim protector in the NBA,” Braun said of Gobert. “So making a play on the best rim protector in the NBA, it doesn’t happen to him often. He had a really good play down the stretch on me where I didn’t go strong enough. That’s what he does. He’s really good at that. That’s why he is who he is, and that’s why he’s defensive player of the year.

“I got him once, and he got me too, so it’s just good, competitive juice. That’s what he’s supposed to do. That’s what I’m supposed to do, and they got the win. So obviously Rudy gets the win today.”

Gobert finished the game with 17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots. Braun countered with 14 points and seven rebounds.

On Saturday in the win over Utah, Braun had 17 points, three assists and two rebounds. For the year Braun averages 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. A starter in his third year in the league, he is converting 52.5% of his shots.

“He made a great play, and there’s always a little adrenaline,” Gobert said as quoted by ESPN.com. “He kind of stepped towards my space and nothing really happened. But it’s part of the game. ... I have nothing against Braun. I actually think he’s a very good player. He’s a good kid. But it’s a big win for us. And the way we overcame adversity tonight as a group is the type of win that I think makes you grow as a team.”

Braun’s dunk has been getting a lot of play on social media site X. The NBA X account ran a replay of the dunk with the headline “Christian Braun detonation!”