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Jaylen Brown has established himself as one of the top stars in the NBA over the last few years.
But even with three All-Star nods, a 2024 Eastern Conference Finals MVP, a 2024 NBA Finals MVP, and a championship all etched on his resume, Brown has been omitted from some of basketball’s top individual accolades.
Despite posting one of his best seasons in 2023-24 with Boston, Brown did not land a spot on any of the three All-NBA teams, with the wing particularly irked by not getting named to any All-Defensive Teams as well.
Add in his omission from Team USA’s 2024 Olympic squad, and Brown has seemingly failed to earn a spot in the same tier as some of basketball’s other superstars like Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, or even his Celtics teammate, Jayson Tatum.
But earlier this week, Brown did receive his flowers from another basketball superstar in Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo — who labeled the Celtics star as “the best player in the NBA”.
“I feel like the best player is the guy that wins a championship, wins it all, and is the best player for his team. So the best player in the NBA, probably I would say is Jaylen Brown,” Antetokounmpo told Complex Sports, adding: “You cannot say you’re the best player if you’re on a team who didn’t win.
“It doesn’t matter if you got the MVP, or you’re All-NBA. If you don’t make your team win, that’s not the best.”
Brown earned 2024 NBA Finals MVP honors after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists over Boston’s five-game series against the Mavericks. Brown’s aforementioned defense — even if it didn’t warrant an All-Defensive Team nod — also played a key role in slowing down Dallas’s backcourt of Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
While there have been several surprise NBA Finals MVP winners over the years (Andre Iguodala with the Warriors in 2015), oftentimes it is the top NBA stars who pave the way to their team’s title.
“Last year, yeah, Jokić was the number one player in the world,” Antetokounmpo said. “And before that, it was (2022 NBA champion) Steph Curry, number one player in the world. And before that, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo, number one player in the world. That’s how I see it. People don’t like that, but it’s the reality of things.”
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