Getty Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, Jaylen Brown was snubbed. Snubbed of an All-Star berth a season ago and snubbed of Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors this past week. Instead, the latter honor fell upon Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris.
While Harris’ stat line was no laughing matter, including an average of 23.3 points and 9.7 rebounds, it’s simply difficult to ignore the absolute tear that the young Boston Celtics star has been on.
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Examining Brown’s POTW Snub
Brown, now in his fifth NBA season, put forth arguably the best stint of his career this past week, averaging 29.5 points, 3.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game. In fact, he averaged more points per game than Harris had in any single game over the same period. Furthermore, he shot 67.1% from the field and also collected a career-high 42 points against the Memphis Grizzles.
Brown also logged an extra game over Harris during that span, which could have theoretically hurt his overall averages, instead, it merely demonstrated his prolonged staying power.
Simply put, many feel like the Cal-Berkley product continues to be overshadowed despite the fact that he’s developed into a full-blown star in front of our eyes. In fact, former Celtics big-man Kendrick Perkins, took things a step further, tossing Brown’s name in the MVP race, while voicing his displeasure for Brown’s snub.
Perkins on Brown: ‘You Can’t Name Me 1 Guy That Has Been Better’
Perkins’ infatuation with Brown is nothing new. He dubbed Brown the best all-around shooting guard in the league this past August. More recently, he claimed that it was Brown, not Jayson Tatum who is the Celtics’ best player.
Safe to say Brown has himself a fan in the ESPN analyst.
This is why Perkins was so disturbed upon hearing that Brown was passed up for Player of the Week honors.
Jaylen Brown not getting Eastern Conference Player of the week is somewhat disturbing to me! Carry on…
“Right now if you had to pick one player, one wing or guard that’s been playing phenomenal basketball, you can’t name me one guy that has been better than Jaylen Brown,” Perkins said on Celtics Pregame Live on Monday. “Jaylen Brown has been phenomenal. He’s shooting 57 percent from the field. Tobias Harris is not even, in my opinion, was not even having the best week on his own team. I thought that was Joel Embiid.”
Perkins continued, questioning the criteria of the award while simultaneously tossing Brown into the MVP conversation.
“So I don’t get the criteria, the goal post is getting moved every single time. But Jaylen Brown has been tearing it up.” he said. “If you had to do a sample size of who was in the MVP conversation, Jaylen Brown’s a top-five player as far as MVP conversation just from his production on the court.”
It’s hard to argue with Perkins on this matter. Brown is averaging career-highs in nearly every statistical category. He’s improved leaps and bounds as a knockdown shooter and continues to be a menace on the defensive end.
The silver lining? While Brown may have missed out on a weekly award, the way the Celtics wing has been playing of late, chances are plenty more prestigious awards and accolades are on the horizon for the 24-year-old.
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