Celtics rising star Jaylen Brown has a thing or two to say

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2018/02/bulpett_celtics_rising_star_jaylen_brown_has_a_thing_or_two_to_say




Bulpett: Celtics rising star Jaylen Brown has a thing or two to say



Steve Bulpett



Saturday, February 17, 2018




U.S. Team's Jaylen Brown, of the Boston Celtics, goes up for a dunk as World Team's Dillon Brooks, of the Memphis Grizzlies, watches during the NBA All-Star Rising Stars basketball game Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)




LOS ANGELES — By definition of the game for first- and second-year players, last night was the last time Jaylen Brown can be a “Rising” Star in the NBA’s All-Star weekend.

But the 21-year-old Celtic is utterly determined to remain ascendant as a human being. He is dogged in his drive to improve as a player, a fact evident by his appearance here after being left out of the game a year ago. But it’s clear from the way he speaks long and eloquently about social matters that he ain’t just dribbling all day.

Brown struck back hard on the notion that players should play and keep their opinions zipped in designer brand duffel bags.

“Who’s to say because you’re a basketball player that you can’t chime in on other subjects, other important topics of the day?” Brown said yesterday. “I’ve always disagreed with that (stay quiet directive), and I’ll disagree with that until the day I die.”

The 6-foot-7 wing isn’t just here to play the game and smile for the international media cameras. He’s meeting with retired legends to pick their brains, and Brown, who once interned at a venture capital firm, is leading an event today where young players gather with such investors to get educated on what to look for when putting their money on the line.

But just when you think Jaylen Brown is spreading himself too thin and looking like the “too smart” guy who won’t pay enough attention to the game, as NBA scouts so charged him as he entered the draft, he takes the conversation to the rim and dunks hard.

“Yeah, I mean, I can hoop,” he said. “I can play, and I’m only going to get better. In my opinion, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. So everything else is patience, but I’m completely devoted and focused on basketball. You have so much time in the day; everybody chooses to spend their 24 hours different. And I just choose to take advantage of every second I’ve got in mine, so not only am I going to continue to get better on the basketball floor, and you’re going to see that, but I’m also going to continue to do stuff off the floor that I’m passionate about.

“I feel like, as an athlete, that if you’re educated on a topic and you believe something, you should be able to say it. Certain things are touchy, but in my opinion, that’s what we’re here for. Everybody has their cameras here. Everybody wants to hear what we’ve got to say, so I feel obligated to enlighten people on the things that I’ve learned in my research.”

As for how he chooses his topics, Brown said, “The ones you know about. It’s as simple as that. You know, not talking about something you have no idea what you’re talking about. If you’re informed in a situation and your perspective can be beneficial, say what’s on your mind. I don’t believe in holding your tongue, especially if it’s something that you can directly benefit from or something people need to hear, especially young people that are watching and looking up to you.”

So it’s really a matter of math.

“Yeah,” he said. “To be honest, yeah, I look at it in that sense. You’ve got 24 hours. You’ve got seven days a week and 365 days in a year. Everybody gets the same amount of time, everybody gets the same amount of days, but I guess time is relative, you know, how people use it. On different places on the planet, time is faster. A day on Pluto is a year on Earth, or something like that. I could be wrong. I can do the research and find out. I might be accurate.

“But time is very relative and it’s different for everybody. How you choose to use it is up to you.”

For the record, Brown did not graduate from the conversation summa cum laude. A day on Pluto is equal to 6.4 days in LA. But he has made his point that athletes shouldn’t be defined narrowly.

“That’s just a narrative that, I don’t know who’s painting it, but it’s just been there for a long time, and I think it’s time to move on from it,’ Brown said. “It’s time to move to a new generation where not only can you have a job and do your job well, but also have other interests outside of that and have that be OK. You don’t get backlash from it.”

As for the pre-draft criticism, he said, “I challenge whoever has the idea or ideology of a ‘so-called basketball player.’ I challenge them to come out and say what that is.”

There can be no challenge to Brown’s progression from last year to this.

“The step from last year was just being prepared, having more opportunity this year than I had last year,” he said. “Last year I came into a different situation where I had to work to get on the floor. It actually benefited me because last year was just all preparation to get ready for this opportunity that Danny (Ainge) presented to me this year.”

And how does he take the next step?

“Everything,” said Brown. “Consistency, everything. Body, just getting my body more adjusted to the league, defending at a high level, scoring at a high level, being a true two-way player, things like that. I’m going to just continue to get better. I’m getting more athletic, I’m getting stronger, I’m getting faster, I’m getting more explosive, I’m going to shoot the ball better, I’m going to handle the ball better. It’s all going to come in time, and I know that. It’s a process. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so I’m going to take my time and just be patient and let the game come to me.”

That last part may be a bit of a lie. While Brown is bright enough to know his best days lay ahead, his mind is already three moves past that, wondering why he can’t have it now.



bob



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Love this kid

He could be another Jimmy Butler.  He's about the same size (6'7", 225# vs 6'8", 235#; assuming Jaylen hasn't grown an inch.  He was only 19 last year when he was measured and weighed) and he can play 2 as well as 3.  Jimmy Butler is a great player but I'm not sure I can see him guarding 2s.  Jaylen needs to work on stuff, as he admits, but he works out with Jimmy Butler in the summer so the idea of him becoming Jimmy Butler is not just an aspiration.  He is seeing Butler's work ethic, and moves, all summer.

The next question mark is Jayson Tatum.  Can he rise to meet our expectations?  So far so good.  We have to remember that he's a rookie regardless of how many minutes he is getting.  We've seen /minute improvements in almost every category from year 1 to 2 with Jaylen (except fritos).  That's just his head getting around the game more and having that summer off to work on the areas he knew he needed to work on.  It will be Jayson's turn this summer.  Even then, let's remember they will still only be 2nd and 3rd year players next year.

Kyrie is only about to turn 26 and he's a 5x All-Star.

All we need Danny to add is a young, talented big to mentor under Horford.  I was hoping for that with this year's Laker pick but that is very unlikely to pan out for us.  Next year's Sacto pick should be good, but this draft is rich and deep.  I don't know about next year's.

Steph Curry is about to turn 30.  KD will be 30 by the start of next year.  Klay Thompson is 28.  They have some talent on their bench, but they are from low draft picks.  They have been backfilling with 34 year old Iggy and 32 year old Livingston like the way Cleveland has been with Korver and Jefferson and we we did when Pierce and KG were getting long in the tooth.  It is not sustainable over more than a few years and, unless they trade someone like Thompson, they will not get the quality of draft pick that will help them get another Thompson.

Chris Paul is almost 33.  Harden will be 29 next year.  Ryan Anderson is almost 30.  Joe Johnson is ancient.  Ben Gordon is almost 35 and is just slightly younger than nonagenarian Johnson.

Kyle Lowry is almost 33.  How many more years can a point guard continue to play at his level after 33?  DeRozan and Ibaka are still on the right side of 30, but I always wonder about the real age of players coming from countries like the Congo the same way I wonder about the real age of baseball players coming from the Dominican Republic.

Cleveland will not be able to survive the loss of 33 year old LeBron James, whether it's this summer or when his bionic body finally starts to give out on him (as of now he has 43,345 regular season minutes on his body and 9127 playoff minutes for a total of 52,472 minutes.  Kobe Bryant started playing when he was 18 (LeBron was 19) and retired at 37 with 57,278 minutes total, but he only played 3247 minutes in his last 3 years.  His last "full" year was when he was 34 and had 54,031 minutes on him).

Things are looking very good for us here on Celtics Planet.  Both of those top WC contenders are playing for now.  Toronto has the best and longest window of our Eastern competitors but we're better positioned with draft picks.  We are playing for now too but we will also be getting stronger over the next half dozen years as GSW, Houston and Cleveland start to fray, fall apart and rebuild.


bob


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Cleveland will be getting a lottery pick. 76ers will be our biggest rival in a few years....unless Philly can escape their own medical staff.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Cleveland will be getting a lottery pick. 76ers will be our biggest rival in a few years....unless Philly can escape their own medical staff.

Cow,

Good point, I forgot about Philly. Didn't forget about their medical staff.


bob



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NYCelt wrote:

mulcogiseng wrote:Can anyone name a member of the Celtics medical staff without looking it up?  Things change!

Sure. Dr. Vinny Boombatz

bob


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