Boston Celtic Guard Jaylen Brown sat down with The Athletic for an exclusive interview on Wednesday. Although his stats have dropped in recent times, Brown seemed happy with his growth. The Celtics star credited his disappointing performance during the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals loss against the Miami Heat as a key to revamping his game. The Heat’s lockdown defense was a major reason why he couldn’t perform at his best. Their switch-heavy defense has propelled Brown’s new team-oriented approach.
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“It just inspired growth,” stated Brown. He added, “It just inspired me to work hard. I probably worked the hardest I’ve ever worked this summer.” He also touched upon his athleticism, which he believes is at its peak. The 2x All-Star believes he is playing his best basketball and his best defense. The series loss against the Heat motivated him to take his game to another level. After all, they almost made a back-to-back Finals appearance last season.
The Celtics had pulled off a Herculean comeback after being down 0-3 in the series against the Heat. They were on the cusp of history after winning three in a row to tie the series. This would have made them the first team to win a series coming back from a 0-3 deficit.
But after Jayson Tatum got injured in the opening minutes of Game 7, Brown fumbled the ball way too much, committing eight turnovers and shooting just 8/23 from the floor. During the series, he had 25 turnovers compared to his 24 assists and averaged 19 points per game. Expectations were huge on the 27-year-old last year because stats-wise the 2022-23 season was his best so far, as he averaged 26.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.
This season his numbers have gone down. He has averaged 21.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game at the time of writing. Despite that, Brown believes that he is playing his best basketball. He has admittedly become much better handling the ball. Because of his growth, the Celtics coaching staff have placed much more trust in him as a ball-handler. When Tatum goes to the bench, Brown acts as the primary ball-handler for the Celtics.
The veteran guard also stated that he has had to prove himself to receive the respect of the coaching staff. Brown told The Athletic, “I’ve had to earn everything. I think they’ve noticed my emphasis on getting guys the ball, and they’ve noticed my turnovers have dropped too, my carelessness sometimes with the ball has gone down. So I’ve had to earn it. Even in Year 8 of your career, it’s great to be able to come to work and you have to earn every privilege that you get.”
Therefore, Brown emphasized that he is not worried about his numbers dropping as long as he can help his team win games embracing the new playmaker role. In any case, the Celtics star shouldn’t have to worry about his numbers dipping after signing the richest contract in NBA history earlier this year.
The Boston Celtics place a lot of trust in Jaylen Brown
It is not surprising that Celtics’ coach Joe Mazzulla and President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens have given Brown extensive duties. The Celtics management handed him a record-breaking 5-year, $304 million contract during the off-season. Despite the lapses during the ECF loss against the Heat, the Celts’ front office had faith that Brown would improve further in the coming years. To enhance his impact, the 2x All-Star has taken an approach that goes beyond the stats.
“Most people, how they watch the game, they don’t really watch, so it’s like they evaluate it by statistics,” said Brown. For him, playing the right brand of basketball is paramount. While his assists numbers have been the same, Brown’s turnovers ratio has decreased. He has become an even better defender and stats don’t fully capture his overall impact on the court.
