38:14
He is a fascinating athlete, who was once considered too intelligent for the NBA. A decorated champion and well-paid superstar who has become the icon of the analytics debate. A curious intellectual, as comfortable talking about science, technology, engineering and mathematics as he is about basketball. Although someone who has walked a tightrope between being frank and being misinformed. Boston, they packed my bags, my friend. All of this has made him one of the most talked about and debated personalities in the world of basketball.
Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown has.it's an illness. Suddenly he thinks he's the smartest guy in any room he's in. This is the story behind Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown was born on October 24, 1996 in Marietta, Georgia, son of Michelle and Quinton Marcellus Brown. Michelle was an educator who counted her many qualifications as a Cambridge College teacher, while Quinton, who was 7 feet tall, was a former professional boxer. According to a 2024 Time magazine profile, Brown learned to walk by chasing a basketball and would throw tantrums when Michelle took away his favorite T-shirt, which had a basketball printed on it. Raising Jaylen and his
brother Quinton as a single mother, Michelle made sure her sons prioritized their education. Between his natural intelligence and his mother's encouragement, Brown became much more than a typical young athlete. He was not only a basketball star at Marietta Wheeler High School. He was also captain of the chess team and the best in his class. However, his work on the court, understandably, grabbed the headlines. By his senior year, Brown was averaging 28 points and 12 rebounds, leading Wheeler to a state championship with a pair of incredibly clutch free throws. For his heroic efforts, Brown was named Georgia's "Mr. Basketball" in 2015. As a five-star recruit with obvious NBA talent, Brown was sought after by the usual
national basketball powerhouses. But the teenager rejected more traditional basketball programs in favor of the University of California, Berkeley, because of Cal's academic reputation. Brown made the most of his only college season. While taking graduate-level classroom courses, he averaged close to 15 points and five rebounds, helping to lead the Golden Bears to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 3 years. Brown was named Pac-12 Rookie of the Year and earned Pac-12 first team honors, cementing his status as a "one and ready" NBA prospect. And that's when the questions started. The criticism wasn't about Brown's shaky shooting or whether his skills would eventually catch up to his athleticism and tenacity. No, the skepticism
surrounding Brown's potential in the NBA had to do with his intelligence. In fact, according to Marc Spears of Andscape, an NBA executive questioned whether Brown was too smart for the league. Others wondered if Brown's off-court interests would distract from his work on the court. Very little about Brown's pre-draft period was routine. For example, he never hired an agent since he was a guaranteed first-round pick who would enter into a specific rookie contract. As Brown told Spears at the time, "I'm not going to change my values or my approach because someone feels uncomfortable. I'm not going to be disrespectful or upset anyone, but I'm
going to be myself." The Boston Celtics selected Brown with the third overall pick in 2016, giving the rookie an immediate opportunity to play on a winning team. Boston was coming off a 48-win campaign and a trip to the postseason, but received a top-three draft pick thanks to a trade with Brooklyn in 2013, in which the Celtics parted ways with veteran legends Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Brown posted modest numbers as a rookie, but earned praise for his toughness and play on both ends of the court. Brown earned a legitimate role in the rotation of a top-seeded Celtics team that made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they would lose to LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite that relative success, the
Celtics underwent a massive overhaul during the 2017 offseason. Brown was one of four players returning from the previous season, as Boston traded beloved star Isaiah Thomas for controversial Kyrie Irving, signed star free agent Gordon Hayward, and drafted future franchise star Jayson Tatum. Despite Hayward and Irving's season-ending injuries, the young duo of Brown and Tatum, now full-time starters, led Boston back to the Eastern Conference Finals. Although they would ultimately fall short again against LeBron's Cavs, the Celtics were clearly in good hands with Brown and Tatum. The healthy return of Irving and Hayward was supposed to propel a championship contender in 2018-19, but the Celtics never quite found their rhythm.
Irving's impending free agency loomed over the club like a dark cloud, while Irving and Brown, who had been relegated to the bench, reportedly clashed behind the scenes. The Celtics won 49 games and one playoff series, but were easily eliminated by the top-ranked Bucks in the second round. To add fuel to the fire, it was reported that the unwillingness to trade Brown prevented Boston from acquiring Kawhi Leonard, who was in the process of leading Toronto to a championship. Over time, Brown would repay the Boston management for that great vote of confidence. Irving's departure in free agency in 2019 officially handed the franchise to Tatum and Brown, and the two Js made the most of the opportunity. After averaging 11 points per game in his first three
career years, Brown exploded in the 2019-20 season, averaging 20 points and six rebounds for a third-seeded Celtics team. He then averaged an efficient 22 points and eight rebounds during the playoffs in the bubble, where Boston eliminated the Raptors, defending champions without Leonard but still formidable, en route to another Eastern Conference Finals. 2020 also saw Brown use his voice and experience as a community organizer, driving 15 hours from Boston to Atlanta to lead a peaceful protest following the murder of George Floyd by police. On the court, Brown had not yet earned an All-Star selection, but the Celtics knew what they had. The accolades would surely come.
Brown finally broke out as an All-Star in his fifth year, averaging close to 25 points, six rebounds and three assists, but a torn ligament in his wrist ended his season weeks before the 2021 playoffs. During a 51- win campaign in 2021-22, Brown and Tatum broke a 35-year-old record held by Larry Bird and Kevin McHale for the most games in which a Celtics duo each scored 30 or more points. They continued their offensive in the 2022 playoffs, leading Boston to overcome Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Miami to set up a finals clash against Steph Curry's Warriors dynasty. Despite a two-to-one series lead and being ahead on the scoreboard at halftime of Game 4, the Celtics withered under pressure from Golden State, falling to the Warriors in six games. After
six seasons as a professional, Brown had established himself as the second- best player on a perennial contender, but one that just couldn't quite make the final push. Even after a Finals appearance where Boston was two wins away from the championship, critics debated whether the two "J"s should be separated for Boston to finally triumph. And since Tatum was already a multiple All-Star and All-NBA selection, while Brown only had one All-Star appearance, the latter was usually the one included in hypothetical trade packages. Those rumors persisted even after another All-Star selection and Brown's first All-NBA campaign in 2022-23. It didn't help that Brown committed eight turnovers in
Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against Miami, ruining Boston's chances of completing a historic comeback from a 3-0 deficit. We failed. I failed. Oh, dear. We disappointed the entire city. Brown promised to improve, and the Celtics clearly believed him. Just a couple of months after the collapse against Miami, Boston rewarded Brown with what was then the largest contract in NBA history, the league's first $300 million deal. The news Brown received while leading a robotics class for underserved youth at MIT as part of its bridge program. The enormous roster spot, for which Brown qualified thanks to his first
All-NBA selection, immediately made him one of the most divisive players in the league. Sure, Brown had qualified for a supermax contract worth 35% of the annual salary cap, but was he really worth that amount of money? And what would the Celtics do once Tatum eventually signed a supermax contract a year later? How would they fill out winning rosters around the duo once the second salary cap rules, which restrict flexibility, went into effect? Boston wouldn't have to worry about all that for another year. And Brown made sure that such concerns were a mere footnote during a magical 2023-24 campaign.
Brown averaged close to 23 points, six rebounds and four assists, made another All-Star appearance and joined Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Al Horford, among others, to lead a 64-win team that steamrolled the rest of the league. The 2024 Celtics recorded what was then the fifth-largest point differential of all time, finishing seven games ahead of any other team and 14 games ahead of any Eastern Conference rival. And they were just getting started. Boston then marched through the postseason, winning 16 of 19 games to claim the franchise's record 18th championship. After years of falling short and serving as a scapegoat, Brown secured his place among Celtics legends, claiming both the
Eastern Conference Finals MVP award and the Finals MVP. He scored a memorable three-pointer to tie the game against Indiana in Game 1 of the conference finals, propelling a Celtics sweep. Then, after averaging 29.8 points against the Pacers , Brown averaged 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and two blocks while serving as Luka Dončić's primary defender to take Boston past Dallas for the title. During that Finals victory, Mavs coach Jason Kidd repeatedly referred to Brown, rather than Tatum, as Boston's best player. The comments could have been interpreted as psychological warfare between Finals opponents, but they led to some uncomfortable questions. One year after his most humiliating postseason moment
, Brown was a champion and a Finals MVP. Making the redemption story even sweeter, Brown invited teams from his Bridge Program to participate in Boston's championship parade. Those children were not the only ones who got to spend time with one of their childhood heroes that summer. Brown himself had an encounter with beloved television personality Bill Nye the Science Guy after asking how he could meet the television educator. Even as a $300 million basketball superstar and champion, Brown's viral moment with Bill Nye was a reminder of his nerdy roots and his growing list of off- court accomplishments. He was once offered an internship at NASA. He was the youngest guest lecturer in Harvard's history. He was the youngest player ever
elected as vice president of the union. However, Brown's impressive track record hasn't saved him from making mistakes. In 2022, after Irving was suspended for promoting a film with antisemitic tropes, Brown shared a tweet that appeared to support members of Israel United in Christ, considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Later, Brown retracted that tweet, stating that he confused the group with the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. That same year, Brown initially said he would not leave Kanye West's Donda sports agency despite the rapper's anti-Semitic comments, only to announce his departure from the agency the next day. In 2023, Brown tried to make a statement with her choice of footwear, only to end up being ridiculed. Brown's shoes
seemed to question whether basketball inventor James Naismith was inspired by an ancient Mayan game, but he misspelled Naismith's name. A couple of years later, when trying to praise Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes, Brown said Barnes had the strength of an extra chromosome. Apparently unaware of how offensive it could be to those with Down syndrome and other disabilities caused by having an extra chromosome. Brown later apologized to Barnes, but seemed to completely ignore the reason, beyond Barnes, why his comment was offensive. But I was thinking, you know, about Superman, the Incredible Hulk, I'm a Marvel fan. As if an extra chromosome were something that gave you an advantage. I wasn't thinking of making fun of any community, much less the
autistic community. So, uh, I'll apologize for adding fuel to the fire about something I wasn't aware of. Brown has often complained about how he is portrayed by the media, citing their coverage as the main reason he started doing more streams on platforms like Twitch, so fans could get a more authentic version of the superstar straight from the source. However, Brown's long list of mistakes has only reinforced the belief that he is not as intelligent as he thinks he is, a theme that would resurface later. For now, let's pick up where we left off on the field. Having just led Boston to the 2024 championship, Brown and his supporters could only enjoy the success for a while before once again facing questions about his value on the
court. When Team USA needed to replace Leonard on the 2024 Olympic team, they didn't choose Brown to join his Celtics teammates Tatum and Holiday, but rather Derrick White. Given White's all-around game, his acceptance of a role, and the way NBA teams view him, the selection made sense. But Brown disagreed. The then- reigning Finals MVP hinted that Nike, sponsor of the U.S. team, played a role in his exclusion. White is a player sponsored by Nike. Brown was in the process of launching his own self-funded brand 741, and once criticized Nike when the company dropped Irving after he promoted that anti-Semitic film. Brown felt even more aggrieved when the team's administrative director.
Grant Hill, from the U.S., called Nike's excuse a conspiracy theory. "It was really a purely basketball-related decision." Hill told Dan Patrick's show. Brown used the snub as fuel for another All-Star campaign in 2024-25, but the Celtics' title defense suffered a devastating blow when Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during the second- round series against the Knicks. Brown played with a partially torn meniscus, and his performance of 26 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists in Game 5 was legendary. But the Knicks eliminated the Celtics in six games. However, Brown's best individual performance was yet to come. The absence of Tatum and the departures of other championship players like Holiday and Horford led many to project the
2025-26 Celtics as a mediocre play-in team at best. Instead, Brown led the depleted team to an impressive 56-win season and a top-two seeding, averaging approximately 29.7 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Brown finished sixth in the MVP voting and was named to the All-NBA First Team. Meanwhile, Tatum's return late in the season fueled hopes for another potential title run in Boston. But when Brown struggled and the Celtics squandered a 3-1 series lead against Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs, all the old questions resurfaced. Sure, Brown had shown he could handle the responsibility of being a high-volume scorer in the regular season, but his shooting, efficiency, turnover problems, and defense left much to be desired,
especially in the age of analytics. There had also been a trend over the years where Boston played better when Brown was on the bench rather than on the court. While Tatum and the other starters on the team often recorded positive net differentials . Even in his best professional year, Brown had a court presence differential of minus 4.1. The other seven players who received votes for the 2026 MVP had differentials ranging from plus five to plus 16. Additionally, Brown annoyed the Celtics when he said on his Twitch stream that 2025-26 had been his favorite season. Critics heard that and asked, " Did Brown enjoy being the first choice more than being the champion?" All of this came to a head when the Celtics reportedly tried to
trade Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo during the 2026 offseason. After the Celtics failed to acquire the "Greek Freak," reports surfaced that the relationship between Boston and Brown was irreparably damaged due to Brown's frequent inclusion in trade discussions. Days after Antetokounmpo arrived in Miami, the Celtics surprisingly traded Brown to their rivals, the 76ers, for Paul George, two first-round draft picks, and a pair of second-round draft picks. Even those who doubted Brown believed the Celtics had sold him cheap. While the city of Boston gave him an unprecedented send-off that included a street sign and a key to the Massachusetts State House However, the disappointing trade package to the team that had just
eliminated the Celtics, no less, spoke volumes. Early in the offseason, former assistant general manager turned ESPN whistleblower Bobby Marks said an analytical source told him that Brown was considered the seventh- best player on a team. Meanwhile, well-known sports media personality Colin Cowherd cited multiple league sources in a much more personal attack on Brown. Jaylen Brown, I had two sources in the NBA tonight, two people in the league. One is an executive, the other a headhunter.
They say Jaylen Brown has an illness. He suddenly thinks he's the smartest guy in every room he walks into Brown commented that the sports world simply has a low level of intelligence and that modern analytics is being used to control the narratives. But he also suggested that the recent criticism was tinged with racist undertones. Were there any misconceptions about you this summer that particularly bothered you Absolutely. Um, some were, I would say, worrying, maybe a little strange. Definitely some nuances there. Colin Cowherd said, uh, that I had a disease. Or their source said I had a disease. I don't know what that was about Whatever your theory, there's no debate that the past year has further complicated Brown's legacy.
On one hand, he is a proven champion coming off a year of racing. As he begins his 11th NBA season, Brown already has five All-Star appearances, two All-NBA selections, a Finals MVP award, and more than $400 million guaranteed in career earnings. He is also a long-lasting and reliable star who participated in at least 77% of his team's games in every season of his career, giving credence to his mantra FCHWPO, or faith, constancy, hard work pays off. But for every fan who can recite Brown's impressive list of on-court accomplishments or educational feats, there is an equally long line of detractors ready to cite his failures, his disappointing advanced numbers, and his woefully memorable gaps.
All of this has made Jaylen Brown one of the most divisive stars of this generation. And his new job playing alongside LeBron James and these star-studded 76ers won't exactly calm things down. Perhaps that's how Brown likes it. After all, none of the noise has derailed him before For your information, I know this episode was long, but I especially hope that those who have been waiting for the NBA PBA 8338 update stayed for the entire video, because they have been asking for it for years and we finally delivered. So, just as a reminder, if you're in the comments, we'll see you. Maybe let us know what you'd like to see next.
