Jaylen reflects on award snubs, embracing negativity after earning ECF MVP

Jaylen reflects on award snubs, embracing negativity after earning ECF MVP originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jaylen Brown’s Eastern Conference Finals began with being left off the All-Defensive and All-NBA teams. It ended with him hoisting the Larry Bird Trophy as the series MVP.

Brown let his play do the talking after his award snubs, propelling Boston to the NBA Finals with stellar performances in all four games. His series was highlighted by a 40-point outburst in Game 2 and a clutch 29-point outing in Game 4.

In the final minutes of the series-clincher, Brown hit the game-tying shot, came up with a huge block on Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, then dished to Derrick White for what turned out to be the game-winning 3-pointer in the 105-102 victory.

Much to Brown’s surprise, Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell announced him as the Eastern Conference Finals MVP.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Brown said of the honor. “I don’t ever win s–t. I was just happy we won.”

Asked about his All-NBA snub following Game 2, Brown stated that he didn’t “have the time to give a f—” with his team two wins away from the Finals. While it was the perfect response, there’s little doubt being overlooked bothered him, especially coming off the best season of his career on both ends of the floor.

On Monday night though, he was all smiles as he held the Bob Cousy and Larry Bird Trophies.

The award snubs weren’t the only negativity surrounding Brown during this series. Ahead of Game 4, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reported that a source told him of Brown, “It’s not so much that he’s underrated. It’s that he’s just not liked because of his ‘I am better than you’ attitude. … It’s the same reason he is not as marketable as he should be.” Brown responded to Smith’s report, “State your source.”

With the Larry Bird Trophy sitting next to his microphone at the podium, Brown opened up about ignoring the outside noise.

“At this point, I’m at that phase in my life where I just embrace all forms of negativity or whatever the case is,” he said. “Some stuff I don’t understand. It ain’t meant for me to understand it. But I just know who I am and what I…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jaylen-reflects-award-snubs-embracing-044833720.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-05-28 04:48:33

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