NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 5, 2024

Jaylen Brown

Boston Celtics

Media Day

Q. You have Kyrie Irving on the other side of things, former teammate, one of the better players in the league. What was it like having him as a teammate? How was that formative in your career? The defensive challenge of going up against a guy like him, what does it take to stop him?

JAYLEN BROWN: Well, I think it was, like, five questions (smiling).

I think it was great. Definitely learned a lot from Kyrie while he was here. It's been great to see his journey, see where he's at, all the stuff he's going through, stuff like that, to be where he's at it's amazing, it's dope to see.

How to stop him? That's a great player over there, so it's going to be a full-team effort. Him and Luka. Making sure we're alert, making sure we're back in transition, and do the best we can.

Q. Two years ago doesn't seem like a long time ago, but in the basketball world it can be forever. How are you guys a different team? How are you a different person and player from '22?

JAYLEN BROWN: Yeah, you learn and grow from your experiences, from being a 25-year-old to being a 27-year-old is a big difference. Yeah, I'm 27 (smiling). You learn from those experiences.

We got a different team. We got a different coach, too, as well. We had Ime Udoka; now we have Joe Mazzulla. We had Marcus Smart, Rob Williams; we have Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis. Different team, different coach two years later makes a pretty big difference.

Q. What does Brad Stevens mean to you? What does he mean to this organization as someone who has been here over a decade now?

JAYLEN BROWN: I think Brad has been great in his role as GM. He was a great coach. I think he just continued that by just being a great GM, being able to put the right pieces together and things like that.

Just happy for him. His schedule has been able to settle down, probably putting a little bit less stress on him than we did when he was coaching us.

But, no, Brad has been great since he's been a part of the Boston organization. He's helped bring this organization back in terms of winning. He's now been able to move into that GM position and put the right pieces together to get us back to the Finals.

Q. Jayson was just asked about looking back on that '22 Finals. I'm curious, how often did you look back on it and watch the tapes? Some people choose to flush it and move forward, some want to learn from it on film. How often do you go back and look at that experience?

JAYLEN BROWN: How often? I've watched it a few times now, maybe four or five times. As well as last year's conference finals. I think you can always learn from anything really. But just being able to watch those moments and learn from them, how to manage your emotions, like, what you would have did differently potentially.

I don't think that's bad to look at and acknowledge and be aware of. So I would say a few times at least I've watched the Finals, the whole thing, all the way through.

Q. You mentioned brand new team, brand new coach compared to the 2022 Finals run. How has Joe's approach throughout the Playoffs and in the Finals been different from Ime [Udoka]?

JAYLEN BROWN: Two different people. Two different guys. Joe's got his own style. Ime has his own style. Both were great coaches.

Joe has been able to emphasize what we wanted to be offensively. We're with Joe a little bit longer. Joe had an interim year. Now this is his second year in a sense. Ime only had one year. So it's hard to really compare, contrast, to be honest.

Q. Everyone kind of points to Derrick's defense when they talk about him as a player. Offensively what can you say about his decision-making, the ability to set ball screens, make plays out of that?

JAYLEN BROWN: Yeah, I mean, D-White has been great all season long. He's been aggressive. We've empowered him. He's primed for these moments. We want him to come out and recognize when it's his time to strike.

We feel comfortable with him doing so because he's been doing it all season long.

Q. I asked Jayson earlier about being one of the more scrutinized players in the postseason. You can relate to that. Does that bond you together? Does that bring you together? Do you talk about that, joke about that? How does that affect your mentality, focus? Are you not as friendly? Does it affect you at all when you hear things? How do you take that into this moment where it's the biggest stage?

JAYLEN BROWN: I think it's fair. I think it's a fair question. I think it's fair to say that it does affect you being embraced versus being scrutinized.

One of my favorite quotes is, like, The child who isn't embraced by the village, something like that, you will, what is it? Y'all know this quote, right? You will feel like the warmth.

The child that doesn't feel the warmth of the village will burn it down, something like that.

Q. (No microphone.)

JAYLEN BROWN: Yeah, whatever. Neither here nor there (smiling).

But, you know, referencing that, you get to a point where it's, like, you get scrutinized enough for a large part of your career, it becomes normal. Then it just rolls off you. For me, at least, I can say. I don't know if Jayson feels the same way. It's kind of been that my whole career in a sense. Just being booed when you were drafted to saying you were overpaid, saying you were overpaid again. It's been that the whole journey for me.

It just becomes another headline.

Q. Your journey has involved a lot. In the beginning you were coming off the bench, fighting for playing time. I know how Joe focuses on you guys focusing on the moment. How do you frame the legacy of this group in terms of winning a championship? One of the guys asked about it being special as a Celtic. It also has to do with you as a group.

JAYLEN BROWN: I think that's a great question, as well.

I think this is a special group. I really do. The core group of it has been here for a few years now. We've been able to go through the experiences of having success but not having success at the same time.

I think to solidify the ultimate goal is to get over the hump and win. I think that will add a lot to our legacy.

But as of right now, that story is kind of still untold.