Hawks coach just said the quiet part out loud about Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown was always happy to sacrifice in the name of winning. It helped lead to the Boston Celtics raising banner 18 to the TD Garden rafters, with him taking home the Finals MVP award. Still, who doesn't want to get the chance to reach their full potential?

What Brown is achieving this season is the validation of his vision. He has played his way into the MVP conversation. And his individual production isn't occurring while team success falls by the wayside.

The four-time All-Star is generating 29.4 points per game on 49.1 percent shooting while also grabbing 6.5 rebounds, dishing out 4.9 assists, and swiping 1.0 steals per contest.

Meanwhile, the Celtics are second in the Eastern Conference standings, building a 25-15 record through the first 40 games of the 2025-26 campaign.

Atlanta Hawks' head coach Quin Snyder has taken notice of how Brown is responding to shouldering more responsibility in Jayson Tatum's absence this season.

Quin Snyder's perspective on Jaylen Brown's career year

Before the Hawks hosted the Celtics Saturday night at State Farm Arena, Quin Snyder detailed just how challenging it is to try to contain a three-level scorer like Brown.

"I think, anytime you get a player that's playing at that level, the first thing you have to kind of understand is that you just need to try to make it hard," said Snyder. "Whatever he's doing, to impact his efficiency, as much as anything. There's going to be times when you play great defense, and he's going to rise up and make a shot or make a play. And with that, you know, we all talk about matchups and things, and that's real. But it can't fall to one player to have the responsibility of stopping him, because as he's shown, that's hard to do.

"And then, the last thing would be just his versatility, you know, his ability to shoot the ball, both catch-and-shoot, off the dribble, to attack in transition, and then to create a shot even in midrange situations too. So, it's a lot to handle."

Brown is averaging the third-most drives per game and ranks in the top four in shots made from the mid-range, per NBA.com. That is a difficult balance to maintain.

However, the former All-NBA Second Team selection is also leveraging those downhill attacks to create quality scoring chances for his teammates. It captures his ability to act as a rising tide that lifts all boats. That's helping Boston generate the second-highest offensive rating in the league and achieve the team success the Celtics are experiencing.

"That's the reason he's the player that he is, I think," said Snyder. "And they're winning too, which is the exclamation mark that goes on when a player is playing at a high level individually and their team's having success."