For the first time in his 10-year NBA career, Jaylen Brown was elected to start in the All-Star Game. Of course, this year’s event was a mini tournament, so there were ultimately three starting lineups, but that didn’t stop JB from being one of the most brightly shining stars on Sunday night.
It’s high time that the league took notice that Brown is one of the best players and the biggest alpha dogs in the entire league. Celtics fans have seen this on display for years, but now, ironically, with Jayson Tatum being on the sidelines, the rest of the world is seeing what Jaylen is truly capable of.
And on Sunday, they saw Brown take command on a team that featured LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and others. In his team’s first game, Jaylen put on a show, leading the USA Stripes team to victory with 11 points and 3 rebounds on 5-9 shooting.
Every JB bucket from last night ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/zMILUZCJWk
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 16, 2026
He looked like one of the most engaged players on the court, taking the game seriously on both ends while some of the greatest players in the history of hte league deferred to him on offense.
Jaylen Brown is a superstar on every level
Jaylen was overshadowed by Leonard in the Stripes’ second game, as Kawhi went nuclear and stole the show with 31 points in the 12-minute game. Then, in the final game of the tournament, the Stripes team hit a wall, and the veteran-laden squad crumbled in their third game in a row without an extended break.
But even with that, it felt like this was a bit of a coming-out party for Jaylen, nationally. He was in the spotlight and rose to the occasion. Older stars like James, KD, and others are fading, while international stars like Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic don’t appear eager to grab this spotlight.
There was a changing of the guard feel to this event as Anthony Edwards took home MVP while players like Victor Wembanyama, Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, and others helped set the tone. Make no mistake, Brown was a big part of that.
He’s no secondary star or tertiary character; he’s a main attraction. We’ll see what happens when Tatum comes back and how this dynamic changes going forward. But regardless, Brown is a top-tier superstar in this league. He has won a Finals MVP in the past, and he’s in the regular-season MVP race this season.
He commands and deserves respect on the national scale, and it’s good to see he’s finally starting to get it.