Jaylen Brown was back at it on Monday night, hopping on Twitch and streaming live for fans, this time, for the first time ever, wearing a 76ers jersey (puke). He had plenty to say during the stream, but the most interesting quote was when he was talking about his outlook on the coming season, saying:
“I’m more inspired to win than anything, because I felt like I’ve been a little bit disrespected in this process, for whatever reason, from people that I thought valued me and everything that I brought to the team and the city. I found out quickly that may or may not be the case. So, I want to win more than anything. So I’m looking forward to that journey, that approach, the leadership, the sacrifice, and whatever it’s going to take.”
Jaylen may not have called out the Celtics or anyone in the organization by name, but this is about as close as he can get. He clearly feels disrespected by Brad Stevens and the Celtics organization after everything he has given to the team and to Boston. And that’s completely fair.
He has been nothing but a hard-working, winning player since being drafted. People can argue about the analytics, the trade, and anything else, but Brown has every right to feel this way after getting unceremoniously shipped to Philadelphia after an amazing 10 years in Boston.
Did the Celtics humble Brown into changing his game?
Now, it’s one thing to say all the right things. Saying that he wants to win and sacrifice and all that is great, but it’s quite another to actually put it into practice. I definitely believe that he has been humbled and motivated by this whole offseason process. He has always carried a chip on his shoulder and used any perceived slight as inspiration to get better.
And almost without fail, he has done that and fueled himself to be a better player every season of his career. So, why would that change now after perhaps the greatest disrespect of his career? It’s scary to think that Brown is absorbing all of the outside noise around the trade and is going to come to Philly ready to do what that team needs of him to be the best version of the 76ers.
On the other hand, we still have to see how the pieces fit and how it all works together. It’s great to talk about sacrifice in August, but if Joel Embiid and LeBron James are the faces of the team while being part-time players and clogging up usage when on the court, I’m not sure Jaylen is going to be thrilled.
Yes, he wants to win, but I’m sure he wants to have individual success as well and be a driving force behind that winning. Does sacrificing mean giving up on-ball reps, shots, and usage? Does it mean focusing more on team defense? Would that version of Jaylen even be good?
There are still so many questions surrounding this new-look Sixers team, and until we see them in action, they are impossible to answer. I believe that Jaylen and his teammates truly want to do the right things and win games, but whether they’re able to make it work is another story altogether.
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