Christian Braun, Christian Braun injury, Denver Nuggets
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Christian Braun #0 of the Denver Nuggets watches his team compete against the Minnesota Timberwolves win the second quarter at Ball Arena on December 25, 2025 in Denver, Colorado.
The Denver Nuggets medical staff seemingly rushed Christian Braun back from the ankle sprain that held him out for 23 games between Nov. 14 and Jan. 3.
Braun, who returned from injury in the Jan. 4 game against the Brooklyn Nets, was back briefly for just three games before being sidelined again. Braun has since missed five games in a row, including Sunday’s 110-87 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
In the lead-up to the Hornets game, Nuggets head coach David Adelman admitted that his team rushed Braun back, even though he refused to note that the athletic guard reinjured the same ankle that held him out of action for nearly two months.
“I watch him work out, and he’s going full speed. It’s just, he can’t do everything his body should be able to do right now,” Adelman said of Braun, via The Denver Gazette’s Vinny Benedetto.
“And so I feel like it’s fair to us and to the player for him to come back when he’s really ready to play basketball, not just run up and down the court.”
Christian Braun Injury Update
The second-year Nuggets head coach praised Bran’s toughness and willingness to return to the court, but refused to risk him again until he’s fully heathy.
“CB is tough,” Adelman said of the fourth-year guard.
“So him coming back as quick as he did off an injury like that is not surprising. And I think we have to do what’s best for him. I do think it’s a group conversation. Whatever CB communicates, I 100% understand where he’s coming from. That guy likes to play, loves to hoop. And he loves to win.”
Nuggets Need Christian Braun
Braun was expected to make a huge leap, possibly an All-Star level one, after his career year in 2024-25, when he saw a huge uptick in his production across the board. The 24-year-old started this season to continue to make the case as Denver’s best perimeter defender, even as his offensive stats took a dip from his breakout season last year.
Before his injury, Braun had the second-best net rating (+10.9) on the Nuggets, as he played a key role in Nikola Jokic’s team starting the season with a 9-2 record.
The good news for the Nuggets is that the likes of Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones and Jalen Pickett have all performed exceptionally well while riding on Jamal Murray’s career-best year. The Nuggets’ supporting staff has been so good that the team has maintained a 7-4 record since Jokic went down with a left knee bone bruise in the Dec. 29 loss to the Miami Heat.
Still, the Nuggets (29-14) definitely need Braun’s defense, hustle and perimeter shooting to make a legitimate run at the NBA championship later this year. The 2023 NBA Champions are currently just half a game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the second seed, but only two games ahead of the fourth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. The Western Conference standings could look a whole lot different by April.