Christian Braun trashes Kansas players after comeback loss vs. Baylor

Kansas led Baylor by as many as 21 points during Saturday’s Big 12 matchup, but was outscored 60-30 in the second half as the Bears cruised to an 81-70 win over the 11th-ranked Jayhawks.

It’s the sixth loss of the season and fourth against conference competition for Kansas, who was ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Frustration over the loss was evident on social media following the loss, and even some alumni commented on Kansas’ current situation. That included Christian Braun, who played three seasons for Bill Self and his home state school.

“Play the guys who care about having KANSAS across their chest,” Braun tweeted, responding to a fan’s tweet asking what could turn the Jayhawks’ season around.

Even after leaving Kansas, Braun, who’s in his third NBA season, has been an vocal member of the Jayhawks fanbase. He often shares his opinions on the current state of Kansas basketball, and didn’t appear to hold back his opinion on the matter.

Braun was a part of the 2021-22 Kansas team that defeated North Carolina to win the national championship game. That team went through a tough stretch at the end of the regular season, losing back-to-back games to, again, Baylor and again to an unranked TCU team.

Kansas would not lose again that spring and would go on to win the Big 12 Championship before running the gauntlet and winning the NCAA Tournament that season.

Braun knows a thing or two about winning. In fact, that’s all he’s done in his basketball career. He’s a three-time Kansas state champion in high school, won the national championship with Kansas in college and an NBA Championship with the Denver Nuggets.

He knows what it’s like to be a champion at every level of the game. Great teams win championships, and the best teams are the ones who play for each other. Braun appears to believe this may not be the case for Kansas at the moment, which could hold them back in the long run.

Despite losing two of its last three games, the sky is not falling in Lawrence, Kansas. The Jayhawks were ranked No. 11 in the country this week and are expected to drop when Monday’s AP Poll is released.

However, Kansas has an opportunity to right its wrongs in short order with a home matchup against No. 3 Iowa State on Monday night, who themselves coming off a 19-point loss to a 10-11 Kansas State team. That came right after a tough overtime loss on the road at Arizona as well.

Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.