Jaylen Brown’s mindset is what C’s need to get back to NBA Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
In one sense, the Boston Celtics greatly overachieved in 2021-22 and should be proud of the fact that they reached the NBA Finals despite sitting 10th in the Eastern Conference in January.
If the Celtics want to return to the NBA Finals, however — as many believe they can in 2023 — they need to play with the edge of an underdog.
That was Jaylen Brown’s message Monday at Celtics Media Day. Joining Celtics.com’s Marc D’Amico and Amanda Pflugrad on NBC Sports Boston’s live stream, the 25-year-old said he hoped his teammates were “humbled” by the experience of losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors and are using that as motivation entering a new season.
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“I feel like everybody should have had as tough a summer as I did dealing with that,” Brown said. “Listening to everybody here say, ‘Oh, you had such a great playoffs, you’re going to get ’em next time’ — sometimes it’s not a next time. Even now, dealing with some of the things that we’ve got on our table now, you see that things don’t always come how you expect them to come.”
To Brown’s point, the Celtics have been thrown a major curveball right before the season with head coach Ime Udoka suspended for a full season due to violations of organizational guidelines. While it’s easy to look ahead and imagine the C’s playing deep into May and June, Brown hopes the events of the last few days are a reminder that nothing is a given in the NBA.
“I think the attention to detail right now is high and alert,” Brown added. “… It’s no a guarantee that you get back. Obviously we have to come in and do what we’re supposed to do, but it’s not no coasting through the regular season.
“… It’s going to take dedication from each of our guys every single day. Accountability every single day. That’s the way you get back. To just think you’re going to coast off of last year, it’s not going to work like that.”
Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla received high praise from Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and said all the right things Monday in his first press conference. But if the C’s want to be one of the best teams in basketball again, they’ll need to lean on the leadership of players like Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart to hold their teammates accountable.
Brown appears more than willing to play that role entering his seventh season — and that’s a great sign for a Celtics team that could be dangerous this season if it can combine talent with the right mindset.
