With the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics selected Jaylen Brown. At the time, he was booed. He wasn’t expected to be selected until the 8th pick according to scout rankings. Many of them said that he was “too smart,” and they weren’t sure if he was committed enough to basketball to succeed in the NBA. Now? Well, you know the story.
Now, he’s an NBA champion, and a Finals MVP to boot. Oh, and the scouts were right – he is wicked smaht.
On Opening Night, the Celtics received their championship rings and raised Banner 18 into the rafters of TD Garden. The emotional ceremony inspired them to decimate the New York Knicks 132-109. Jaylen made his media appearance after the game, and when asked about his impression upon receiving his ring, he noted that he basically relived the path that led him there.
“That ring is just an object, right? But it’s the everything – the emotions, the heartbreak, embarrassment, the work, the drive, dedication. That’s what that ring represents. All of that is what you feel when you hold something up. So, for me, that’s what was going through my mind, and it was an amazing feeling.”
I put together a highlight reel of some of the things that he may have seen in that moment:
Despite only being in the league for eight years, Jaylen certainly had a lot to look back on. In 2016-2017 he was All-Rookie Second Team. He’s a three-time All-Star. He was named to the 2022-2023 All-NBA Second Team. This past season, he earned the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and followed that up by winning his first championship along with the Finals MVP. He also received the ESPY for “Best Championship Performance.”
It hasn’t all been highs for Brown, though. Prior to winning the championship, he had seven consecutive seasons of heartbreak. In five of those years, he and the team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals — three of those years all the way to a Game 7, but only one resulting in a Finals berth. That Finals appearance may have been the most disappointing of them all, with the Celtics falling to the Golden State Warriors in six games after holding a 2-1 lead. NBA fans were unsympathetic, to say the least.
After losing to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, Jaylen was ridiculed for how he ended the series with plenty of fans and analysts saying that he had no left hand after he had eight turnovers. His name has been thrown around in trade rumors for years. When the Celtics extended his contract last offseason, the richest contract in NBA history at that time, he was called overpaid. This past offseason, he was also left off of the Team USA Olympic roster. Brown hasn’t given much attention to the noise, but he certainly kept receipts.
He came into the last season with a clear goal: to be one of the best two-way players in the league. I’d say he accomplished that goal based off of his Finals performance. He’s put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to this point. Now, he’s been to the top of the mountain, and he’s not done yet.
