Cal Basketball: Celtics' Jaylen Brown Feels The Need To Campaign on His Own Behalf
The Boston Celtics’ quest to return to the NBA Finals — and perhaps take it one step further — begins with a home game Saturday in the first round of the playoffs.
Celtics fans are hopeful that former Cal standout Jaylen Brown will be ready when second-seeded Boston begins a seven-game series against a play-in opponent.
Brown missed the Celtics’ two final two regular-season games after cutting a finger on his right hand on a piece of glass from a broken vase late last week at home. He received five stitches and told reporters he expected to only miss a few days.
Jaylen Brown
Photo by David Butler II, USA Today
In the meantime, Brown gave the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn an extensive interview in which he tried to provide clarity on topics he addressed recently in interviews with the New York Times and The Ringer.
With regards to his long-term future in Boston, Brown said, “I’m just enjoying my time, and I’ve said that multiple times,” he said. “I’m enjoying winning. I’m enjoying being here with my teammates, with my guys. My family’s here as well, going on eight years. It’s a blessing to be here on a 50-win team. You can’t take none of that stuff for granted.”
Brown, who has played for the Celtics since being taken by the franchise with the No. 3 pick of the 2015 NBA draft, is potentially in line for a supermax contract worth nearly $300 million.
But Brown, whose current contract expires after the 2023-24 season, has to land a spot on one of the three all-NBA teams in order to qualify for that deal from the Celtics.
The media votes for the first, second and third alll-NBA teams and Brown said he’s been reluctant in the past to campaign on his own behalf. Now it’s something he believes he pretty much has to do.
“It definitely has a role or an effect on your future,” he told Washburn, who happens to be a Cal graduate. “Sometimes it’s uncomfortable when stuff like that gets to be left out of your control. But it’s the part of the world that we live in.
“I think I’m more than deserving. This is the second-best team in the league. I’ve played nothing but winning basketball, helped lead my team and I’m in the [top] 10 in scoring and I’m efficient. I guess you look at the criteria and I think I more than meet it. We’ve dominated for the most part of the season. I’ve been available. What more do people want?
“But it’s out of my control.”
Brown is coming off his most productive season, averaging career-bests of 26.6 points and 6.9 rebounds. The 26-year-old small forward made his second All-Star game this season.
Brown said he did not intend his previous remarks to be a late-season distraction for the Celtics, who lost to the Warriors in the NBA Finals a year ago. He also acknowledged he thinks he’s been somewhat overlooked.
‘I see myself as a guy who is constantly having to prove myself. That’s fine. But in reality, I don’t feel like I have anything to prove to anybody,” he said.
“I’m going to come out and do my job each and every night, what’s asked of me on a consistent basis. I’m going to come out and get better every year until the day I die. That’s just the type of guy I am. That’s how my brain functions.
“I like to concern myself less with what others think, but now you get put into these moments and it’s like you don’t have a choice.
“(Bleep) it, I’m campaigning for myself.”
Cover photo of Jaylen Brown by Davis Butler II, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
