Jaylen Brown was not only the best player in the NBA Finals for the Celtics, but he was also the best player to know.
Jaylen Brown He was, perhaps, the best player in Boston Celtics In the post-season. The level he showed on the court and the leadership role he played on the team was so good that Mavs coach Jason Kidd placed him “above” Jayson Tatum, calling him “the Celtics’ best player.” This was confirmed by his partner, Jrue Holiday.
Jason Kidd made headlines today by saying Jaylen Brown is Boston's best player. Listen to Jrue Holiday's reaction to those comments @TerminRadio And @GregAnthony50 #NBA Finals
Listen to the full interview and more coverage of the NBA Finals right here on NBA Radio https://t.co/mhGzRXllab pic.twitter.com/wYjDDsQzzY
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) June 8, 2024
These statements did not come out of nowhere, after he won the Best Player award in the Eastern Region Finals, averaging 29.8 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. Two generations He has maintained this form in the NBA Finals, where in the first two games he averaged 21.5 points, 4 rebounds and 4.5 assists in addition to appearing in key moments and being the main trademark for Luka Doncic.
The impact you had brown It's what you'd expect from a third-round draft pick, but in that 2016 draft, no one took it that high brown On their councils. despite of Two generations He was a 5-star candidate coming out of high school and could have practically chosen any university he wanted, so he chose the University of Berkeley, California. The university, as of today and in 2016, is outside the top 25 NCAA basketball teams.
brown He chose to play for the Golden Bears, prioritizing the classes he would take to a better basketball program that would give him more tools for the NBA. The Celtics player now felt that “no other university would give him the kind of experience he was looking for.”
And this is it Jaylen took a master's level course in Cultural Studies of Sport in Education, was part of the chess team and completed his Spanish proficiencyAll while maintaining his average and status to be a first-team player for the Golden Bears.
In addition to his academic interests, Berkeley also provided him with a platform to research and speak about activism and social justice, which was crucial when choosing a university, as the Black Lives Matter movement at the time was part of the “social movement.” Bubble 'of brown.
In 2018, he became the youngest person to give a lecture at Harvard University entitled: “A personal interview with Jaylen Brown, athlete and intellectual”. After arriving in the NBA, he became Vice President of the Players Association, being the youngest player to hold that position.
In addition to being a smart man, brown He's an interesting guy. Since he was young he has been part of the chess club and has taken “honors” lessons, which are more advanced classes than the rest of his classmates. He travels everywhere with books, incense, a vinyl player and a collection ranging from 2 Pac to Marvin Gaye.
But his personality was not always attractive to NBA GMs, as some believed he would “get bored” of basketball and eventually pursue an intellectual career. An anonymous GM even mentioned it brown He was “pretty smart” for an NBA player.
Today, these thoughts couldn't be more wrong, Jaylene finds herself shining in NBA Finals And if the Celtics are two wins away from a championship, will they be able to “graduate” with honors from an NBA school?