How Jaylen Brown Has Outshined Wilt, MJ and LeBron in the NBA All-Star Game
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In just his third NBA All-Star Game, former Cal standout Jaylen Brown has achieved something Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James never did.
Brown scored 36 points to help the East stars claim a defense-free 211-186 victory over West squad on Sunday at Indianapolis. That came on the heels of Brown scoring 35 points to go with 14 rebounds in the event a year ago.
With a pair of performances of at least 35 points, Brown distinguished himself from the legendary threesome of MJ, Wilt and LeBron, none of whom did that on the all-star stage.
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And while the NBA All-Star Game has devolved into a fairly silly exhibition — this year’s game featured the mind-boggling total of 168 3-point shot attempts and just three personal fouls — Brown has been comfortable in this setting.
Actually, he’s been prolific.
Brown put up 22 points in his all-star debut in 2021, giving him 93 points in 73 minutes over three games. That works out to 31.0 points per game for the 27-year-old Boston Celtics star.
And here’s the thing, while that is admittedly a small sample size, we could not find anyone who has a higher career all-star game scoring average.
Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum, who set the single-game scoring record last year with 55 points, logged 20 points on Sunday and is scoring at a 22.0 clip over five all-star appearances.
The two combined for 56 points on Sunday, and Brown said he enjoyed the game returning to its traditional East vs. West format.
"It was cool being on the same team as J.T. this time," Brown said. "It was pretty cool. We got the win, and we had fun. I think it's just another platform to continue to raise for yourself, but also raise for the city of Boston. Just represent. I think that's what we kind of look at it as. That's what we've become."
Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted up 35 shots in 28 minutes to score 50 points on Sunday. But his four-game all-star ledger shows a scoring average of 21.8 points.
The closest we could find to anyone equaling Brown’s all-star output is Kevin Durant, who has assembled a 24.4 scoring mark over 11 appearances. Stephen Curry is at 21.8 points in nine games.
We checked the numbers on the NBA’s all-time top-10 career scoring leaders, and even they don’t approach what Brown has done in his three all-star games:
1. LeBron James 21.7 points (20 games)
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 13.9 points (18 games)
3. Karl Malone 12.0 points (12 games)
4. Kobe Bryant 19.3 points (15 games)
5. Michael Jordan 20.2 points (13 games)
6. Dirk Nowitzki 8.7 points (14 games)
7. Wilt Chamberlain 14.7 points (13 games)
8. Julius Erving 20.1 points (11 games)
9. Moses Malone 11.6 points (11 games)
10. Shaquille O’Neal 16.8 points (12 games)
Other all-timers who don’t match up include Oscar Robertson (20.5 points), Elgin Baylor (19.8), Rick Barry (18.3), Larry Bird (13.4), Jerry West (13.3) and Charles Barkley (12.6).
Cover photo of Jaylen Brown shooting over Steph Curry by Trevor Ruszkowski, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo