Perhaps it’s a bit unfair, but Zach Lowe has become one of the face for anti-Jaylen Brown rhetoric. It’s not that he’s a hater or anything like that, but Zach doesn’t have JB factoring into the MVP race, and doesn’t have him on his first-team All-NBA.
To his credit, Lowe has backed up all of his opinions and arguments and has continuously heaped praise on Brown and the season he’s having. He just gives a slight edge to Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, and Kawhi Leonard, along with the top candidates, Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Cade Cunningham.
Most of his argument is based on Brown’s efficiency numbers, which are a bit lower than those of others, and the on/off stats that show that the Celtics play extremely well when Jaylen is off the court.
While Lowe has planted his flag and been manning the front line in the fight against Jaylen’s case for MVP and first-team All-NBA, he’s not exactly endearing himself to Celtics fans. But at least, he’s working his way back into the good graces by proclaiming on his most recent podcast that he has Joe Mazzulla as his Coach of the Year, and it’s not particularly close.
Joe Mazzulla getting Coach of the Year love
It’s good to hear Zach giving Joe this kind of love, and it makes sense. There has to be some explanation for the Celtics’ brilliant play this season. If people don’t think Jaylen belongs in the MVP conversation, fine. If people don’t think Neemias Queta belongs in the MIP conversation, fine. If people don’t think Derrick White belongs in the DPOY conversation, fine.
But the success has to be coming from somewhere. If people can’t pinpoint any player or group of players, other than just continuously saying that the entire roster is overachieving, then the coach needs to be getting a lot of credit, and it appears like that’s finally starting to happen.
Still, Mazzulla may be faced with an uphill battle as JB Bickerstaff of the Pistons is favored to win the award, as he has turned Detroit into the best team in the East just two years after they were the worst.
It’s crazy to think that the Celtics could have this good a season, exceeding every expectation, yet won’t get any recognition when it comes to awards season. Jaylen will certainly make an All-NBA team, whether it’s first-team or not, but that’s not enough.
The team should receive more credit for the season they’re having, and when experts are struggling this much to quantify where the success stems from, it’s time to point at the coach, Joe Mazzulla, and his staff.