Speaking to the media ahead of the NBA Finals this month, Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, a 3x NBA All-Star, explained what makes this year’s team different than the ones that have failed in the past. Brown says they are smarter, wiser, and much more complete overall than they’ve ever been before.
“We feel like we’re a different team than we were last year and the year before that,” said Brown via Bobby Krivitsky of Sports Illustrated. “I know everybody wants to continue to kind of pigeonhole us to what’s happened in the past, but we’ve had a different team every single year.”
The Celtics, who are led by 26-year-old Jayson Tatum, have already had multiple deep playoff runs — including when they made the NBA Finals back in 2022. Somehow, the Cs always fall short of their title goals and many are doubting that they can pull it off this year against a red-hot Mavericks team.
“Different coaches,” Brown continued. We’ve had like three coaches in the last five years, and still, people want to just make it seem like it’s the same, it’s the same, it’s the same. Time has gone by, experience has been gained, and I think we are ready to put our best foot forward.”
Brown, 27, was drafted 3rd overall in the 2016 draft and he’s lived up to the hype as a two-way wing player who can deliver under pressure. While the former California prospect has yet to win a ring, he never lost faith that his team can get the job done.
This is despite the fact that, over the years, the Tatum and Brown era has been defined by disappointment for the Celtics. Given how high expectations have been for them one could argue that they have underachieved in their short time together. As duo as the two have been in the regular season, the Celtics have never actually finished the job and the doubts will never go away until they actually get it done.
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