Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury was expected to send the team into a recovery year. But the season has proved otherwise, thanks to newfound talent in roleplayers and leadership from emerging superstar Jaylen Brown.
Earlier this month, Brown was named an all-star starter for the first time, making it his fifth All-Star Game appearance.
The NBA has announced a new format for this year’s All-Star Game. Two teams, one made up of U.S. players and one of international players, will face each other in a series of four 12-minute games.
This honor solidifies Brown’s status as a superstar player, alongside giants like Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry.
Brown has been an impactful two-way guard for Boston since he was drafted 3rd overall in 2016 from the University of California, Berkeley. However, due to his perceived player potential being lower than that of other talent picked around him, his draft pick was originally booed by fans. Many fans and professional analysts labeled his shooting struggles as traits that wouldn’t succeed in the league.
Since then, Brown has been a staple on the team alongside Tatum. The explosive pair have led the team to five Eastern Conference Finals appearances, two NBA Finals appearances, and one NBA Championship. Brown made the Eastern Conference finals in his rookie season, one year before Tatum was drafted.
While he’s seen success throughout his career leading up to this season, he’s mostly had to play second fiddle to Tatum. With Tatum out for the foreseeable future, Brown has exceeded expectations under TD Garden’s brightest lights this season.
Sophomore media arts production major D.J. Cook, an avid Celtics fan, weighed in on Brown’s struggles going into the season. He said that he was pleasantly surprised.
“My expectations weren’t really high on the Celtics going into the season,” he said. “I wasn’t very confident in Brown being the number one option since he can have turnover problems and can be streaky at times.”
The Celtics were expected to struggle without Tatum, their clear number one option, who has been out for a majority of this season. Despite this, Brown has willed the Celtics into the three seed of the Eastern Conference, with a 29-18 record.
Brown hasn’t gotten much attention throughout his career as a four-time all-star reserve, but still has a great resume. During the Celtics’ championship run, he won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP against the Indiana Pacers, winning in five games. Brown then took home Finals MVP, defeating the Dallas Mavericks, you guessed it, in five games.
This season, Brown has averaged 29.8 points per game, which is not only the highest of his career, but the 4th highest league wide. Brown also tied the legendary Larry Bird for the most consecutive 30-point games in a single season for Boston with nine.
Sophomore media arts production major Rezart Comeau, a lifelong Celtics fan, praised Brown’s performance and improvement this season.
“Brown can just take over games when he needs to in the clutch,” he said. “He’s super consistent and can drop 30 every single night.”
Brown’s nomination isn’t just another statistic on his resume. It’s a statement that exhibits his dominance and how he wills the team together when adversity strikes.
This past offseason, Boston had to trade away key players from their championship team in order to stay within the salary cap — the amount of money they’re allowed to spend on their roster.
“I would’ve guessed we would … be a mid team after last offseason when we traded Jrue Holiday and Kristaps [Porzingis],” Comeau said. “But a lot of guys have been able to step up and let Brown be their leader.”
The records, statistics, and the eye test from watching games have fans advocating for Brown to win MVP.
“His mechanics as a playmaker have gotten so much better, and he’s proved to be the focal point of the offense,” Cook said. “He absolutely deserves to be in MVP talks and legit has the best reason why he should win it.”