Does Jaylen Brown need any more motivation to prove his doubters wrong?
The star forward has been overlooked his entire career, be it getting snubbed from All-NBA and All-Defensive teams, getting included in trade talks or being viewed as the No. 2 to Jayson Tatum’s No. 1 on the Celtics — Brown has had enough ammo to develop a chip on his shoulder.
This summer, Brown nearly had the last laugh when he captured his first NBA title and NBA Finals MVP honor, only to endure the heartbreak of being snubbed from the Team USA roster bound for Paris. Brown did not hide his disappointment, alleging that Nike — the sponsor of Team USA — kept him out of the roster before criticizing team director Grant Hill for calling him a “conspiracy theorist.”
The back-and-forth led to Hill extending an olive branch to Brown and assuring the Celtics star that he’d be a candidate for the Team USA roster in 2028.
Watching the events from afar, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens believes Brown’s spat with Hill could work in favor of the C’s in the upcoming NBA season. Stevens — who has known Brown since 2018 — is convinced the Team USA snub is “more fuel” for the 27-year-old who plays his best when angry.
“One of the best things about Jaylen is whether he gets the call [for 2028] and makes the team or doesn’t get the call, he’s going to use it as motivation to get better,” Stevens told The Boston Globe. “So I know he’s working and he’s excited about improving. I think he’ll truly embrace the challenges that come with winning last year. That’s who he’s always been. And this will probably add more fuel to his fire. But he doesn’t need much fuel added. He finds it.”
Hill and Co. may have inadvertently awoken a monster — not that he wasn’t already awake — that could spell trouble for 29 other teams trying to dethrone the Celtics in the 2024-2025 season. A year after a dominant run to an NBA title, the Celtics open the season as +300 favorites to repeat.
