Celtics
Brown received five of the nine votes for the award, with Jayson Tatum getting the other four votes.
When the Celtics defeated the Heat in 2022 to advance to the NBA Finals, Jayson Tatum took home the inaugural Larry Bird Trophy for the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference finals. This time around, his star running mate won the award.
Jaylen Brown received the Larry Bird Trophy after the Celtics completed their sweep of the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals on Monday.
“All praise to the most high,” Brown told ESPN’s Lisa Salters during the trophy presentation. “We was in this building not too long ago. We was getting boos. Thankful to God to be here. Appreciate everything, man. Let’s get some more.”
Entering Game 4, it was largely viewed as a toss-up on who would win the Larry Bird Trophy between Brown and Tatum. They traded spots as the betting favorite, with Brown being favored to win the award after Game 2 but Tatum became a slight favorite following his 36-point outing in the Celtics’ Game 3 win.
The voting for the award reflected that. Brown received five of the nine votes, with Tatum earning the other four.
Brown arguably hit the biggest shot of the series in Game 1, when he made a contested 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime. He matched his playoff career-high in scoring in Game 2, putting up 40 points in a winning effort.
After a 24-point showing in Game 3, Brown stepped up again in Game 4. He scored a game-high 29 points, with 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter. He also dished out the assist on Derrick White’s series-winning 3-pointer with 45 assists to go with his six rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block in Game 4.
Brown finished the series averaging 29.8 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game.
The Larry Bird Trophy honor came a year after Brown’s struggles in the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat. He scored just 19 points per game in that series and committed eight turnovers in the Game 7 loss.
Still, the Celtics opted to give Brown the richest contract in NBA history last offseason, signing him to a five-year, $304 million deal. Brown paid them back with another All-Star effort in the regular season, helping them win 64 games before going 12-2 through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Brown made it clear though that the Celtics aren’t fully satisfied just yet, as they seek to avenge their loss in the NBA Finals in 2022.
“It’s been nothing but a grind,” Brown said. “We haven’t skipped no steps all season. We’ve got a bunch of great guys in this locker room, a bunch of tough guys. Our coaching staff has been great, our front office has been great. Now, we want to take it to the next step.”
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