Not Getting This NBA Recognition ‘Hurt’ Celtics Star Jaylen Brown

Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown wanted to be known as more than just a scorer this season.

Brown made it his mission and spoke openly throughout the campaign about how he wanted to make one of the NBA’s two All-Defensive teams this year.

He believed he deserved a spot, but voters felt otherwise, leaving him off the All-Defensive Teams while selecting two of his teammates in Derrick White and Jrue Holiday for the recognition.

The Celtics star, with the Eastern Conference finals MVP trophy in tow, revealed following Boston’s Game 4 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night that not receiving the All-Defensive honor bothered him, more so than coming up just shy of an All-NBA nod this season.

“I think I’m one of the best two-way wings, guards, whatever you want to say in this game,” Brown told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “I thought this year I’ve taken a level and I’ve increased it. I took the matchup, I picked up guys full court, I chased guys off screens, I battled with bigs. And I felt like I should have been All-Defensive and that probably hurt me the most because that’s one of the things that I set out in the season that I wanted to be.”

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Brown took the chance to clap back at his critics after leading the Celtics to their second NBA Finals appearance in the last three seasons. He even responded to a question about his beef with media megastar Stephen A. Smith.

The 27-year-old’s on-court play, especially late in Game 4 against the Pacers, did plenty of talking for him, too. He scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and came up with a massive block on Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard with the game tied with just a little over a minute left to play. He also made the key assist on Derrick White’s clutch 3-pointer with 45 seconds left.

It was an all-encompassing performance from Brown, who certainly was motivated by his naysayers. And despite not getting the regular-season recognition, he knows where he stands and as long as certain people in his life know it, too, that’s good enough for him.

“As time has gone by and I got to this point, I stopped caring. I just embrace, I don’t care who sees what,” Brown said. “As long as my team knows my value, my city knows my value, my family, that’s all I really care about. I like to set my hat on being a versatile two-way wing and can do both at any point in time. The last kind of four minutes of this game you saw that.”