Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is clearly on a mission to prove himself this season

Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, Jaylen Brown is putting the rest of the league on notice as he adds to his All-NBA campaign for the Boston Celtics.

With the mask on, Brown takes on a whole new persona. Jayson Tatum hitting him in the face may have been the best thing that has happened to Brown this season so far. Not only does he look like a superhero, the mask adds a whole new intensity to Brown’s look which has taken his game to new heights down the stretch of the regular season. On and off the floor, Brown is always his true self. It does not matter what people have to say about him or who is guarding him on that particular day, Brown has been completely locked in on putting himself among the league’s superstars.

Nobody is getting in the way of Brown’s success, and while his quotes have made the headlines as of recently, it is his purposeful play on the floor that has taken the NBA world by storm. On Friday evening at TD Garden, the Boston Celtics were without Tatum due to a left hip contusion. Despite the fact that it was the regressing Spurs coming to town, Joe Mazzulla’s side needed someone to step up in the absence of the team’s most prolific scorer.

Whether it is dramatic poster dunks or flashy finishes in transition, Brown has brought out all his tricks right in time for the postseason. There is hardly ever a celebration after muscling an opponent into the paint and finishing a tough layup. Brown simply goes about his business. That is was makes him such a unique person and professional athlete. It seems that he enjoys witnessing his teammates success than his his own on the floor. Whether it is his body language or the way he talks in the media, Brown just always seems out to prove something to somebody.

Despite living in the shadow of Tatum in Boston, Brown deserves the recognition, and may finally be receiving it. This Monday, the NBA awarded the 2023 All-Star the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award for the third time in his career as he totaled a field goal percentage over 55% during the past seven days.

In the five games in which Brown played without Tatum this season, he has collected three double-doubles, including two outings in which he netted 35 or more points. While his season overall has been his best on the statistic side of things, it is his post All-Star break form that has put Boston into a position to steal the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 overall seed.

For the second time this season, and the first time since the beginning of the new year, Brown surpassed the 40-point mark in the 44 point blowout of San Antonio. The former California guard is one of six players in the NBA to have averaged over 28 points per game over the last five games. Each player on that list contributed played in each of his team’s previous five contests.

Jaylen Brown has been the reason why the Boston Celtics are still battling for the No. 1 spot in the East post-All-Star break

As the race for the No. 1 seed in the East heats up, Brown is pushing the Boston Celtics toward a potential opportunity to snatch it away from the Milwaukee Bucks. Since the festivities in Salt Lake City concluded, no Celtic has averaged more points per game than Atlanta, Georgia native.

He is one of four Celtics that have collected seven or more rebounds during this stretch in which Boston has won four of its last five. He has shot more 3-pointers than any other player in green during this span, knocking them down at a near 40% clip while shooting over 50% from the field overall. With Paul Pierce in the building, the Spurs could simply not handle the truth that Brown is without question an All-NBA player.

If he lands one of the 15 spots up for grabs among the three All-NBA teams, Brown will be eligible to sign a five-year, $290 million supermax extension with the Celtics after the season. Many of this will rely on what position voters believe him to be. Last season, it has to be said that the former No. 3 overall selection was mostly a guard with Ime Udoka utilizing a double-big lineup for the majority of the campaign. Mazzulla has done something different. Playing with just one big for most of the time, Brown has actually played more minutes with two other guards on the floor than one so far during this 2022/23 campaign.

No matter how you slice it, Brown deserves the stack of cash. He plays with a chip on his shoulder every game, continuing to dictate his own offense. His patience and creativity, especially in the mid-range is remarkable. Brown’s free-throw shooting has continued to come up as a topic of discuss throughout the season, but with time, he will find consistent form when it matters at the charity stripe.

For most of his career, the former Cal Golden Bear has always been the looked upon as the “Robin” of the Boston Celtics. As the regular season comes to a close, it is clear that Boston possesses two “Batmans”.

No matter if he gets All-NBA or not, Brown will continue to work in order to reach that ultimate team goal. Whenever he gets the keys to the convertible, Brown always makes the most of it. It may have been the Spurs on Sunday evening, but over this large chunk of games since the All-Star break, Brown has shown the whole league what he truly is capable of.