Jrue Holiday Says Jaylen Brown is Celtics’ Best Player — Then Backtracks

Jrue Holiday had a great performance leading the Boston Celtics to a Game 2 win. However, his comments from the post-game conference received much more attention from the basketball community on social media.

Jrue Holiday made certain comments ahead of tonight’s game, suggesting that he believed Jaylen Brown to be the best player on the Celtics. However, he didn’t want his comments to be taken out of proportion. Hence, the two-way guard made it extremely clear that he didn’t prefer any of his teammates over the other. Instead, Jrue revealed being impressed with the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown duo for putting up a terrific performance on the NBA’s biggest stage.

“I’ve been hearing that I prefer JB over JT and that’s not what that was. I like to praise my teammates, I like to praise my teammates when they are playing well… To compare them is something that I would never do. Just to address the comment yesterday: I do not prefer one over the other.  — I prefer both. Both of them are superstars and it’s been shown out here on the biggest stage,” Holiday after tonight’s game.

To be fair, Holiday never explicitly claimed that Brown was the best player on Joe Mazzulla’s roster. All that the 33-year-old did was agree with Jason Kidd’s statements regarding Brown being an effective player on both ends of the floor.

“It’s the first time I’m hearing that but I mean, I don’t think he’s lying. I think JB is aggressive in every single way. He’s getting to the paint, getting to the free throw line. Also making plays for other people and then he’s guarding Luka (Doncic). He’s guarding the best player,” Holiday said as a response to Kidd’s comments.

Historically, Jayson Tatum has been the better player. However, this specific postseason, Brown has had better stats. JB also had a better Game 1 performance on both ends of the floor. Hence, it seems as though Jason Kidd wasn’t inaccurate. However, the Mavericks coach’s stunt to potentially try to create a wedge between the star players was recognized and ignored.

What do Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum think about Jason Kidd’s comments?

Jason Kidd’s comments intrigued the NBA community. Every fan and enthusiast began giving their two cents on the same topic that erupted into a full-fledged debate. However, the Boston Celtics recognized the mind games that Kidd might have tried to play.

Instead of appreciating the head coach for the praises, Jaylen Brown revealed being focused on the next game while highlighting that basketball is a “team game”.

“I have no reaction. I don’t know. I think it’s a team game. We’re trying to focus on that and everybody has their own opinions,” Brown responded to Kidd’s comments, per CBS.

Jayson Tatum, who seems to be struggling in the NBA Finals, also avoided controversy by not commenting on the topic. Having a similar reaction as his All-Star counterpart, the 6ft 8” forward said:

“No reaction. This is a team sport. We understand that. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have JB on our team, and we could say that for a lot of guys. We all played a part in getting to where we’re at. We understand that people try to drive a wedge between us,” Tatum said.

Despite Tatum averaging 17 points on 31.5% FG in Games 1 & 2 (per NBA.com), the Celtics seem unaffected by Jason Kidd’s comments. As they go up 2-0 in the series, they will continue to focus on the upcoming games at the American Airlines Center and focus on clinching the series as soon as possible. Credit also needs to be given to Joe Mazzulla for keeping his team focused.