Jaylen Brown Reacts to Lakers' LeBron James Hyping Celtics Star's MVP Case on Trending Video
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown appreciated the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James putting him in the NBA MVP conversation.
Brown's 32 points powered the Celtics to a 111-89 win over the Lakers on Sunday.
"This whole MVP thing, I don't understand why his name is not getting talked about some as well," James told reporters after the game. "Nobody gave them a shot to start the season. ... It's a popularity contest."
Brown said he's not overly focused on the outside chatter and wants to maintain "the same mentality as I have from day one."
"Who I am, I feel like I'm the best two-way player in the world. I play both ends on the court night-to-night," he told reporters. "I'm available, which is hard to do. I'm a leader. Help lead my team, empower my team to come out and play confidently, stuff that doesn't always show up on the analytics. And I'm a winner. I come out and try to win every single night."
Brown also thought all the way back to his rookie season in 2016-17. His first NBA start was against LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers. At one point, James took him aside and said he's become an All-Star and a "great player."
"We talked about that at the All-Star Game," Brown said. "'You remember that 10 years ago?' And he smiles like, 'Of course, you know, I'm not surprised at anything you're doing right now. So, you know, just keep proving people wrong. Keep doing what you got to do, you know, and keep leading your team, and people will take notice.'"
The Celtics are second in the Eastern Conference (37-19) despite missing Jayson Tatum and after having traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis last summer. Many assumed this was a reset year for Boston. Instead, the team is a credible threat to win the conference.
Brown is a big reason for that. He's fourth in the NBA in scoring (29.2 points) while also setting career highs in rebounds (7.0) and assists (4.9).
Still, the five-time All-Star looks like a long shot for MVP.
In the straw poll from ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the overwhelming pick with 78 first-place votes. Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić was next with 18 first-place votes. Brown was all the way down in sixth place, and none of the 100 respondents listed him higher than third.
The regular season doesn't end for another month and a half, so there's time for the MVP race to evolve. For now, Brown has a lot of ground to make up.
