Celtics' Jaylen Brown explains 'shocked' reaction to winning Finals MVP

Today at 11:41 PM

Throughout the 2023-24 season, it looked as though the Boston Celtics were finally going to break through in the team’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown-led era. They had the perfect blend of defense, shooting, and leadership, and in the end, the Celtics won banner number 18 after dispatching of the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals. But in a team that many believed were captained by Tatum, it was Brown who won both the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and the NBA Finals MVP.

Tatum had his fair share of shooting struggles during the NBA Finals, while Brown had less variance in his level of play. It was his defense that took him over the top, however. He defended his heart out against the Mavericks’ main man Luka Doncic all the while scoring just seven fewer points than Tatum throughout the course of the series while attempting 14 fewer shots from the field.

Brown was certainly deserving of winning the NBA Finals MVP award, but even then, the Celtics star revealed that he felt “shocked” in the immediate aftermath of reaching the league’s mountaintop.

“I was shocked. You get so locked in on the journey that you sometimes block everything out. Your focus becomes so adamant that nothing else exists besides what is in front of you and the job that needs to be done. So honestly, when we won, it felt like we had another series to play. It felt like there was another game coming up. My mind was instantly going into preparation mode. It was having a hard time settling on the fact that, ‘Nah, this is it.’ We did it,” Brown said during his sit down with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

T

The Celtics have not missed the playoffs throughout Brown’s career. However, they have always come up short in their bid to win a title prior to 2024. They saw their season come to an end in the Eastern Conference Finals four times since 2017, and they even suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the NBA Finals in 2022. Thus, finally being an NBA champion was a refreshing change for Brown — a pleasant shock, if you will.

But the road ahead is even more difficult for Brown and the Celtics. As competitors, they will not rest easy after winning just one championship. However, the entire league will be gunning for their heads, leaving them no room for complacency.

Jaylen Brown and the Celtics begin their title defense on Tuesday night

Until further notice, the Celtics remain as the favorite to win the title in 2025. Kristaps Porzingis may be injured at the moment, but even with Porzingis playing a limited role in their playoff run last year, the Celtics still managed to run the gauntlet and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season.

The Celtics’ core players simply complement each other like bread and butter. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and New York Knicks, just to name a few, will do their best to dethrone the Celtics, but now that they’re armed with championship experience, the best may be yet to come for Boston.

The post Celtics’ Jaylen Brown explains ‘shocked’ reaction to winning Finals MVP appeared first on ClutchPoints.