Jaylen Brown makes surprising claim about Celtics’ season after Game 7 loss

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Matthew Couden

By Matthew Couden

Contributing Writer

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This past season, Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics defied critics' expectations, as many expected this team to lose a lot of games, effectively tanking while Jayson Tatum was still rehabbing.

However, Brown showed his leadership abilities, helping guide a Tatum-less team to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Tatum returned for 16 games to close out the regular season, and then for the majority of his team's first-round playoff series.

And while many believed that the Celtics were the top contenders with Tatum back, they ultimately saw a first-round 3-1 series lead evaporate and end in a disappointing Game 7 loss at home. Tatum watched from the bench due to knee stiffness as Brown did his utmost to guide Boston to a big win again.

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Brown finished with 33 points on 12-of-27 shooting to go with nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in an immense 40-minute effort to keep Boston's postseason going. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough against a fully-powered Philadelphia 76ers squad who claimed a 109-100 win behind stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

With that, Philly moved on to the second round to face the New York Knicks, while Brown, Tatum, and the Celtics are on vacation. After the Game 7 loss, Brown dropped a surprising statement on his live stream, calling this past Celtics season his "favorite year" of his career.

"So proud of this group and the way we played. I wish we trusted that style a little bit more, but I know playoffs kind of shifted our rotations and what we wanted to do," he said.

"But I'm so proud, and it was my favorite year of my basketball career," Brown said, mentioning that streaming with his chat was like "therapy" when he did it.

"Also being able to be part of a group that, through the uncertainty, came to fight and came to compete and went to war. I'll take a team like that any day of the week," he said.

It's surprising for Brown to call this year his favorite, seeing as he and the Celtics were the NBA Champions in 2024. Not only that, Brown secured the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award for his contributions to winning that championship.

However, he seems to prefer defying others' expectations, and maybe he's making a statement that he is the heart of this team and deserves to be on the roster moving forward. That's especially powerful, as there's been trade speculation that a Celtics package for Giannis Antetokounmpo might include sending Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks.

It seems like Brown is committed to this Celtics team through thick and thin, or potentially making a case for himself as a strong leader of whichever new team he joins.