Cal's Jaylen Brown Handles Rumors Like a Pro But Has Issue With His NBA2K Rating

Celtics teammate Marcus Smart says Brown wasn't bothered by Kevin Durant trade talk.

Jaylen Brown’s Boston Celtics’ teammate Marcus Smart is impressed by how the one-time Cal player has dealt this offseason with constant rumors he could be traded to the Brooklyn Nets.

“He’s handled it great. He walks around with a smile on his face” Smart told Bobby Manning of celticsblog.com. “We actually haven’t even mentioned it when we were together. We were just talking about the upcoming season and getting ourselves ready, but he’s great.”

The trade talk has ended but for most of the summer Brown’s name was at the center of a rumored trade package for Nets star Kevin Durant. The Nets and Durant announced a couple weeks back they have made peace.

Smart said Brown has approached the situation like a professional.

"My advice is, to anybody, don’t forget it’s a business first. When you’re doing business, personal stuff has to go out the window and can’t be the issue, so you can’t look at it like that,” Smart said.

In fact, Smart said if a player’s name is being mentioned in a possible trade it should be viewed as a compliment. “It means teams want you,” he said.

Brown kept a low profile as regards the trade rumors, but he spoke out succinctly on Twitter this week after word leaked that he was given an 87 overall rating as just the 26th-best player in the league, according to the soon-to-be-released NBA2K23 game.

Twitter

"@NBA2K stop playing with me,” he wrote.

Brown wasn’t the only one surprised by his NBA2K rating.

The website clutchpoints.com said there were “some questionable choices in terms of who came in ahead of him,” citing LeMello Ball, Zach LaVine and Zion Williams, who didn’t even play last season.

“Coming off a Finals appearance, where he played pretty well overall, the young star should be higher than the 26th-best player in the league,” the website wrote.

Still just 25 and entering his seventh NBA season, Brown averaged 23.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season. In Boston's six-game loss to the Warriors in the NBA Finals, Brown contributed 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, including a 34-point performance in Game 6. 

Others also had gripes about their rating, including Durant, whose 96 score tied him for second with Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. Topping the list with a 97 score is Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Durant suggested he should have received a 99, which is considered almost impossible in NBA2K.

Cover photo of Jalyen Brown by Kyle Terada, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo