It'd be much quicker to list what Jaylen Brown can't do than it would be to list what he can at this stage of his career. Brown has made his case for MVP this season, but that's only the latest chapter in what's been a pretty fantastic overall story from him.
From being highly questioned as the No. 3 pick to being a starter to becoming a perennial All-Star to being the best player on one of the NBA's best teams, Brown's development over the last 10 years doesn't get the credit it deserves for how far he's come along. And even crazier, he's still rounding out the edges to become one of the NBA's most unstoppable players.
Since coming to the NBA, the one downside to Brown is how much of a loose end he is as a free throw shooter. While not Shaquille O'Neal in that regard, Brown's free throw shooting has limited him as a player, as he once shot as low as 64.4% in the NBA.
It's gotten better over time, as the last time Brown shot under 70% in his NBA career was in Year 3, but it's never quite become a stength.
Until now.
Brown's free throw shooting has now become a strength
Brown hasn't become Steve Nash at the free throw line, but it's no longer a problem that opponents can exploit. The charity stripe has now become Brown's ally. This season, he's shooting 80.2 from the line, a career-best. No, he's not among the best free throw shooters in the game with a mark like that, but it's a percent that should give the Celtics plenty of comfort when he draws fouls.
It doesn't stop there. Being the focal point of the Celtics means more attention on Brown, and he has taken advantage of that to go to the free throw line more often. Not only is he shooting a career-high from there, but he's averaging the most attempts per game, averaging 7.5, almost a 150% increase from last year's mark of 5.1.
It's developments like these that further reflect how much better Brown has gotten. He's not typically the one who comes up in discussions of the best NBA players, but he has played well enough to put himself in the mix this season. Part of what helps his case is his efforts to be a flawless player.
Brown likely won't win MVP, and there's a solid case he won't make the All-NBA first team, but this has been one of the most impressive individual player campaigns the Celtics have seen in this century. Boston would not be in the position they are in now if it weren't for his efforts, and his improvement as a threat from the free throw line has played a hand in that.
With Brown correcting what was once a nagging problem, we were originally going to say Brown has fixed his Achilles heel, but given the timing, it would have been easy to misunderstand the context...