Jared Weiss

Also, a huge miss by almost the entire analytics discussion I’ve seen around Jaylen is that it’s been out of the context of his role. The rumors about the deeper impact analytics the teams have making Brown not look good are real from what I’ve heard, but that’s not considering what his role actually is. On next year’s Celtics, Jaylen could’ve gone back to his responsibilities in partnership with Tatum, two different types of wings who have long complemented each other well. Brown is a dangerous dribble penetrator and point of attack defender who improved as a playmaker last year enough that he was effective. A healthy Tatum has been a high level playmaker and outside-in scorer, and a great help defender and good POA defender. Tatum’s strengths allowed Brown to thrive at what he does best and limit his exposure on his weak points, and that went both ways. Brown was the hyper aggressive tone setter and his intensity was necessary to allow Tatum to be more laid back. While he made a lot of help mistakes, he also is one of the few two-way stars in the league who can press full court all night in the playoffs and defend with elite physicality across the board. So all of these comps of Brown to other MVP candidates misses the fact that Brown was meant to operate in tandem with Tatum and his valuation should be in that context. Even so, fair for the Celtics to not want to pay the $75m extension on him as he gets to his mid 30s, or that they wanted to shift course now. But the conversation around his metrics and most analytics has missed the fact that not every player has to be complete and well-rounded. Not every player has to be efficient in every regard. There is a pretty clear track record that Brown and Tatum together worked and anyone who actually watched closely over the years could see that.

If you can’t see it then it shouldn’t be called. Replay serves to allow officials to see things clearly, but it’s crossing a line when tech is being used to call things we can’t even perceive.

That was an interesting 50-minute stream by Jaylen Brown I know everyone has their thoughts on athletes streaming, but in my view, it's pretty cool that fans get to hear from players in an unfiltered way so quickly after major things happen

A consistent theme from Jaylen’s comments tonight has been his connection to the city of Boston. It wasn’t just superficial. There are few players in the NBA who have invested so deeply into socioeconomic change in the way he has. He has gone way beyond giving money or even time. He took on the mission of evolving Boston and making it a more equitable place for minorities. So much of what he did in his new home served a bigger purpose. You could see it in how much time he dedicated to talking with kids when he put events together, or how he held meetings quietly behind closed doors with people in positions of power to advocate for policy change. Like, look at what he did with his extension signing at his Bridge program, or his sneaker unveiling at the museum of science that featured a panel on science education with Bill Nye. Him getting traded has a much bigger effect on the city than just losing a beloved player. I’ve been back in Boston this week and seeing so many people I know in the political and creative space be devastated by this trade because they valued him as much as a leader in the community as an athlete. And that’s why the character assassination stuff he called out on his stream was so prescient. I’ve seen him constantly put himself in rooms where it was clear his intent was to grow and to share, not to be the smartest person there. I remember when he spoke on the education system at MIT when he first got to Boston, struggled to get his presentation out cleanly, then kept improving and growing as a thought leader from there. From the beginning, he put himself out there trying to implement change in the community and he built a legacy few athletes have. It’s honestly the first thing I think of when I think about his time in Boston.