Jaylen Brown Signed Record-Breaking Deal With Celtics, and NBA Fans Quickly Brought Up One Big Problem

So many jokes.
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Boston Celtics star wing Jaylen Brown agreed to the richest contract in the NBA on Tuesday, a five-year, $304 million supermax extension that topped Nikola Jokić’s extension last summer for the largest in the league’s history.

But after a disastrous postseason performance against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, many NBA fans are questioning whether Brown deserves to be the sport’s highest-paid player. In particular, fans have criticized Brown for his struggles dribbling with his left hand over the years. Brown had eight turnovers in a decisive Game 7 defeat to the Heat and shot just 16-percent from three in the series.

Brown’s deal likely won’t stay the biggest in league history for long, as the salary cap continues to rise and other young players will get their own supermax extensions. Still, despite it being an expected move, there’s clearly some sticker shock throughout the NBA world about a $300 million contract for the Celtics star.

Regardless of the jokes, Brown can laugh straight to the bank. 


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Kevin Sweeney
KEVIN SWEENEY

Kevin Sweeney is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated covering college basketball and the NBA draft. He joined the SI staff in July 2021 and also serves host and analyst for The Field of 68. Sweeney is a Naismith Trophy voter and ia member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.