Former K-State basketball star Barry Brown leads pro team to championship in China
Barry Brown just finished the best season of his professional basketball career — and he has the hardware to prove it.
Brown, a former Kansas State guard, led the Zhejiang Lions (of China) to their first championship in club history earlier this week.
He did it in style.
Brown averaged 28 points and 5.9 assists this season, but he took his play to another level in the playoffs. That was most evident in the finals, where he scored 41 points and dished out nine assists in a series-clinching win over the Beijing Ducks. Brown also scored 44 points in a different playoff victory.
In the finals, he averaged 30 points and 7.3 assists. For his efforts, he was unsurprisingly named Finals MVP. Then he took center stage during the trophy presentation.
Many of the same skills that made him an excellent basketball player for the Wildcats were on display this season in China. Brown is still slashing to the basket for acrobatic layups, draining shots from mid-range and knocking down 3-pointers when he is open on the perimeter.
Brown was part of some memorable K-State basketball teams during the Bruce Weber era. He teamed up with Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade to lead the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in 2018 and then a Big 12 championship in 2019.
He scored 1,781 points in a purple uniform, making him the fifth-leading scorer in school history behind Jacob Pullen, Mike Evans, Rolando Blackman and Askia Jones.
Brown hoped to take his talents to the NBA after his college career came to an end, but he has found a lucrative and successful home overseas.
After spending one season with the Iowa Wolves in the G League, he has spent the past five years playing for foreign teams. China has been kind to him over the past two seasons.
Now he is part of a championship team.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Former K-State basketball star Barry Brown leads pro team to championship in China."