Similar to the 2023 NBA Champions Denver Nuggets, the Boston Celtics had invested a lot of time and resources in keeping their young core together coming into this year’s playoffs. The expectations were high on the All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to get Boston over the hump after the 2022 Finals loss. However, the Celtics narrowly missed out on an epic comeback from 0-3 down following their Game 7 loss against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. After their postseason ended, Shaquille O’Neal advised the Celtics last month to break up the Brown-Tatum pairing for some flexibility in cap space. However, weeks after his comment, the Diesel would find out that the Boston side is set to completely disregard his suggestion and offer Jaylen Brown the biggest contract in NBA history.
Advertisement
Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported that the Celtics are looking to offer Brown an extension that can go up to a staggering five-year $304 million, with Brown potentially racking up $70 million in the final year of the deal. Nikola Jokic currently holds the biggest supermax extension in league history, a $276 million five-year deal that is set to kick in this year. Brown’s potential deal would dwarf Jokic’s contract by $28 million and Shaq’s entire career earnings by $12,000,000. Shaquille O’Neal earned about $292 million in NBA salaries throughout the course of his career, which amounts to about $409 million after adjusting to inflation.
Shaquille O’Neal shares details of Jaylen Brown’s exorbitant contract
Shaquille O’Neal shared the news of Jaylen Brown’s potential deal with the Boston Celtics on his Instagram stories. Brown’s max extension was on the cards since the beginning of free agency. However, the ‘Woj bomb’ reporting the biggest deal of the summer surely has shocked a lot of NBA fans.
Shaquille O'Neal shares potential Jaylen Brown $304M extension news pic.twitter.com/M5CpevtlUJ
— What are (W)NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) July 16, 2023
During the end-of-season presser, Boston Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens had emphasized Brown’s importance in the team, hinting at a max deal. However, Shaq had advised the Celtics front office to trade Brown, keeping in mind the new CBA regulations that are set to kick in a few years.
“I don’t know what the salary cap is, but obviously, they are going to be over the salary cap, and now I can’t get players around them,” the four-time NBA champion had said on the Big Podcast with Shaq. “I would, business-wise, break them up and use one of them to get the pieces I want. I will say Tatum is the number one; use Brown to bring in a Brown-type player, and then just do it like that.”
View this post on Instagram
Brown averaged 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 67 games in 2022-23, which earned him an All-Star rep. But there’s no doubt that he is the second option in the team. It would be interesting to see what the Celtics have in store for Tatum after offering his running mate the biggest deal in league history. Whatever it may be, this will surely put a strain to the franchise’s luxury tax payments.
Shaq is jealous of big NBA contracts
Shaq was the subject of a lot of jealousy around the league when the Lakers signed him through an unprecedented(at the time) $120 million deal. But that hasn’t deterred the big man from being jealous of current NBA players getting the bag.
Shaq has admitted on the Rex Chapman Show that players who are not the best in the league getting max deals really grinds his gears. In fact, the Lakers legend regularly ridicules Rudy Gobert’s exorbitant contract as a running joke on the NBA on TNT broadcast. However, Shaq has been happy for a few dedicated players getting the bag in this year’s free agency.
