Jaylen’s Brown recent ambiguous commentary regarding his status as a Boston Celtic once his contract is up in 2024 seem to suggest that his return to the team he’s played on for all seven years of his tenure in the NBA is not set in stone.
2008 NBA Finals champion and Celtics Hall of Famer Paul Pierce seems to think that the 26-year-old All-Star’s time with the team will soon come to and as well. According to Pierce, Jaylen Brown will leave the Celtics to prove that he can be “the guy,” in the vein of players like James Harden and Tracy McGrady who left their original teams to “prove their worth” in the league, so to speak.
“Maybe Jaylen wants the opportunity to be ‘the guy.’ We’ve seen this for years as guys have left teams,” Pierce said on “The Starting Lineup” on SiriusXM. “Just think (about) James Harden. James Harden wouldn’t be James Harden if he didn’t leave OKC (Thunder). Tracy McGrady wouldn’t have turned into T-Mac if he didn’t leave Toronto (Raptors). You never know. Maybe that’s on Jaylen’s mind or maybe he’ll stay.”
Harden left the Houston Rockets, with whom he played eight full seasons, in the 2020-2021 seasons for the Brooklyn Nets. He played only two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets before departing for his current team, the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of the 2022 season. Tracy McGrady also left on a similar note from the Toronto Raptors at the end of the 2000 season to play for the Orlando Magic the following one.
Pierced added, “There are a lot of factors that go into a mindset of a player of his caliber because we know he’s (Jaylen Brown) a premier player in this league. Maybe he wants the opportunity to see if he can be ‘the guy,’ or who knows.”
Do you agree with Paul Pierce’s sentiment that Jaylen Brown will leave the Celtics to prove his worth on another team in the NBA? Do you think Jaylen Brown feels as though he’s unfairly overshadowed by Jayson Tatum?
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