Celtics

“As long as my team knows my value, my city knows my value, my family. And that’s all I really care about.” 

Jaylen Brown didn’t mince words on Monday night when asked about his new hardware.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all. I don’t ever win [expletive],” Brown said after taking home the Larry Bird Trophy as MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals. “So, I was just happy that we won.”

Brown won the voting for the trophy by a slim 5-4 margin over his teammate Jayson Tatum, but he left his fingerprints all over Boston’s four-game sweep against the Pacers. 

Over those four games, the 27-year-old wing averaged 29.8 points to go with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game. 

He delivered the game-tying shot to force overtime in Boston’s Game 1 comeback win before dropping 40 points in a lopsided Game 2 triumph at TD Garden. In Boston’s Game 4 clincher on Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Brown led the charge with 29 points, six rebounds, and three steals. 

“I was playing like trash in the first half — the pace was really getting to me. I feel like I was a step behind,” Brown said of his start, with the forward only sinking one of his first seven shots. “And then I just needed to be a little more patient in the second half and let the game kind of come to me a little bit more. And I did that. I was just trying to get to the basket and use my physicality. 

“But if the game tells you to shoot a jump shot, you got to shoot a jump shot. And so in the second half, I think I made three [3-pointers], let the jumper fly a little bit more. And that opens some stuff up for me. So sometimes, you just got to be flexible, you got to be versatile. And just the game will tell you what you need to do.”

But beyond his scoring output, Brown made an impact on the defensive side of the ball in Game 4 – blocking what would have been a go-ahead basket for Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard with just 1:05 left on the clock.

On the following possession, Brown drove with the ball before dishing it out to Derrick White for the series-clinching 3-pointer. 

While Brown took the high road after Game 2 when asked about getting snubbed from an All-NBA Team, he did take issue for not making any NBA All-Defensive Teams despite making strides in that area of the game. 

“I think I’m one of the best two-way wings, guards, whatever you want to say, in this game,” Brown said. “I thought this year I’ve taken a level and I’ve increased it. I took the matchup, I picked up guys full-court, I chase guys off screens, I battle with bigs. I felt like I should have been All-Defensive. 

“And that probably hurt me the most because that’s one of the things that I set out in the season that I wanted to be. But as time has gone by and I got to this point, like I just stopped caring. I just embraced — I don’t care who sees what, as long as my team knows my value, my city knows my value, my family. And that’s all I really care about.” 

Brown put together another strong campaign in 2023-24 as Boston’s No. 2 scoring option behind Tatum — averaging 23 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 49.9% from the field. 

That production on the court hasn’t always translated to heaps of individual accolades handed Brown’s way.

But at this stage of his career, Brown is focused more on the collective goal that is now within reach with the Celtics — with just four wins separating Boston from an 18th championship.

“You just embrace it. At this point, I’m at that phase in my life where I just embrace all forms of negativity or whatever the case is,” Brown said. “Some stuff I don’t understand — it ain’t meant for me to understand it, but I just know who I am. And what I stand for. Sometimes it makes people feel uncomfortable. And sometimes I miss out on things — I miss out on opportunities, awards, marketing deals, or whatever the case may be. 

“And at this point, I just embrace it. I am who I am. And I’m gonna stand on my beliefs. And I’m one of those people who would die for what they believe in. So I just embraced it at this point. And I’m grateful that I’m able to be in this position and the energy’s about to shift.”