After countless seasons of near misses, the Boston Celtics achieved their goal of winning the 2024 NBA championship by overcoming the Dallas Mavericks. During their title run, Jaylen Brown emerged as the face of the Celtics, receiving the prestigious Finals MVP award. The decision by the selection committee took the three-time All-Star aback. Although he felt he deserved the award, he wasn’t expecting to win it because of how others perceived him.
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Brown sat down with NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith in a highly anticipated conversation between the two polarizing figures. The Celtics star opened up about his initial reaction to earning the 2024 Finals MVP. He said,
“I think I deserved it right but I did not expect it for reasons that we’ve been talking about earlier in this conversation. I feel like because of who I am and because of how I approach things and what I stand for. It intimidates people and rubs people the wrong way.”
Jayson Tatum was favored to win Finals MVP ahead of the 2024 NBA Finals, with -125 odds. But Brown’s incredible performance soon made him the frontrunner among voters. Over the five-game series, he averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, shooting 44% from the field.
Beyond his on-court performance, Brown often speaks out on various topics, including social injustice and NBA politics. This has led to rumors labeling him as “not liked,” which Smith solidified with a report given to him by an unnamed source.
Stephen A Smith on Jaylen Brown per a league source:
“It’s not so much he’s underrated, it’s that he’s just not liked because of his “I’m better than you mentality” it’s the reason he’s not as marketable as he should be”
The Celtics disrespect continues. pic.twitter.com/FUcCVjbExc
— Savage (@SavageSports_) May 26, 2024
Despite these narratives surrounding Brown, he continues to succeed at the highest level and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Jaylen Brown believes he’s doing the right thing
Brown showed no signs of regret while admitting he rubs people the wrong way. He viewed others’ reactions as a positive indication that he was doing the right thing.
“What I stand for intimidates people and rubs people the wrong way. I think good because there’s a lot of organizations, there’s a lot of things that need to be changed. We see the results from our former players, we see the results in our community and nobody thinks that we need to change some of these cycles. So you should feel a certain type of way when I walk into the room.”
Beyond his growth as a basketball player, Brown has made significant contributions off the court. He was a vocal advocate during the height of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and supported Kyrie Irving following Nike’s decision to release the Mavs guard in 2022.
