During a recent live stream with streamer PlaqueBoyMax, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown got asked about his most challenging defensive assignment.
Some might anticipate he'd respond with Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James, or any of the other elite offensive weapons he has had to guard.
However, Brown instead answered with Marco Bellineli.
Warning: The following video contains the use of explicit language.
"Marco Belinelli used to light me up,"Â voiced the four-time All-Star. "He just used to never stop moving. And I used to have to chase him around [in] the system we had. I used to chase Marco Belinelli around all these different screens. And like, he's not even getting the ball ... [but] you never know when he's about to take off full speed, and start running and catch the ball."
How did Marco Belinelli fare against Jaylen Brown?
The two have faced each other 10 times in the regular season. Brown's Celtics won seven of those tilts. They also squared off in the 2018 playoffs.
With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward sidelined by injuries, Boston's burgeoning stars, Brown and Jayson Tatum, led the franchise on an improbable run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
A series before getting within one win of the NBA Finals, the Celtics upset Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Boston won that series 4-1. However, one of, and perhaps the most memorable moment, belonged to Belinelli.
With the Celtics leading 2-0 and the series in Philadelphia for the first time, the 13-year veteran buried a corner buzzer-beater that initially appeared to be a game-winning three. That cued the confetti to rain from the rafters.
Unfortunately for the home team, upon review, Belinelli's basket was a two, not a three. That meant overtime. In the fifth frame, the visitors prevailed. That gave them a commanding 3-0 series lead that they did not relinquish.
In games against Brown's Celtics, Belinelli registered a career average of 9.7 points per contest. He converted on 37.6 percent of the shots he hoisted from three-point range, per Stathead.
However, as Brown noted, what made him such a challenging cover was rooted in how active the Italian sharpshooter was. Chasing him around screens and having to keep up, regardless of whether Belinelli was about to get the ball, is an exhausting endeavor.
To his credit, Brown managed to do so effectively and still produced 19.0 points per tilt at the other end of the floor. The former All-NBA selection also averaged 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and had a value over replacement player [VORP] of 10.8, per Stathead.