The Athletic: 'I believe I'm the best two-way player in the world': Jaylen Brown goes off

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Jaylen Brown left all sorts of hints that he would be ready for his matchup Saturday night against Kawhi Leonard.

On New Year’s Eve, Brown tweeted that he was the best two-way player in the world. Two days later, he expressed disappointment that he did not win the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for December. And in between those calls for more respect, Brown reached out to Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, requesting to defend Leonard. On the team flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles for the game against the LA Clippers, Brown sent Mazzulla a text message saying he wanted the matchup.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Brown would ask later.

If Brown wanted to prove a point about the award or his overall place in the NBA hierarchy, he did it. In a 146-115 blowout win, he tied his career high with 50 points on 18-for-26 shooting. While stopping the Clippers’ six-game winning streak, Brown also helped hold Leonard, who had been on a tear, to 22 points on 6-for-17 shooting.

“I seek those challenges,” Brown said. “I feel like it brings the most out of me. Obviously, Kawhi is one of the greats, so I wanted to start on him. I just seek those matchups. My mindset, I like when my back is against the wall. When people doubt, it fuels me. So, even though it’d be nice to get some respect, keep it up. I definitely use it as fuel.”

Derrick White called Brown’s shot making “unbelievable.” Even while on the court alongside Brown, Jordan Walsh suggested he watched his teammate in awe. Brown’s performance was impressive enough that Mazzulla thanked him afterward, saying it was an honor to watch him play like that.

“I thought that was one of the most complete games that I’ve seen him play,” Mazzulla said. “I knew he was going to come out with that.”

How did Mazzulla know? The Celtics understood how motivated Brown would be. Believing he played as well as anybody throughout December, he didn’t like seeing Jalen Brunson win the East’s Player of the Month award.

“When I saw that Player of the Month, with the stats (Brown posted in December), I knew what was coming,” Luka Garza said. “I’m not like LeBron, I’m not saying I knew he would have 50. I’m just saying I knew he would come out and try to prove a point.”

His perceived snub wasn’t Brown’s only source of motivation. The six straight wins showed the Clippers were playing as well as any team in the NBA entering Saturday. Over those six games, Leonard delivered one of the best regular-season stretches of his career, averaging 39 points, 8.5 rebounds and four assists per game. Brown, who believes two-way players don’t receive enough credit for the burden they carry for their teams, has considerable admiration for the way Leonard competes on both ends of the court.

“I think Kawhi is one of the greatest two-way players of all time,” Brown said.

The Celtics saw how well Leonard and the Clippers were playing. On the final game of a five-game road trip, Brown and the Boston players understood the type of challenge they were running into with the Clippers.

“I just think all those things combined,” Mazzulla said, “just, a guy like Jaylen, (that) brings out the best in him. And he just wants to compete at the highest level.”

Brown reached a new level Saturday. After scoring 20 points in the first half, he painted a shot-making portrait throughout the third quarter. His only miss on eight attempts during the quarter came with 31 seconds left, when he pulled up from several feet beyond the 3-point arc in an attempt to earn the Celtics a two-for-one.

Before that, Brown made seven straight shots — none being layups or dunks. His level of difficulty during the quarter was high enough that a left-handed floater over Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who was second team All-Defense last season, didn’t even qualify as the most challenging make. That came with 2:21 left in the quarter, when Brown dribbled backwards between his legs, stepped back, pump faked, stepped through and drilled a contested 3-pointer while jumping about four feet forward.

Jaylen Brown hits the step-back, lean-forward 3 and Jayson Tatum's loving it pic.twitter.com/beZJIIm21s

— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) January 4, 2026

Amid all his baskets, Brown’s pass to Garza late in the third quarter easily could have gone unnoticed. It didn’t result in an assist because Garza missed a layup while drawing a foul on the play. It didn’t count in the box score; still, his level of control throughout the third quarter could not be described fully without mentioning that pass.

He had already scored 19 points and was in enough of a rhythm to knock down a leaning 3-pointer moments earlier. And, instead of forcing his own offense, Brown found Garza the moment he opened up in the paint.

Jaylen Brown had everything going Saturday night against the Clippers.

“You could just tell he was seeing the floor in a lot of different ways,” Garza said. “When I was in there, it was just fun to watch, fun to be a part of.”

Even on the road, Brown’s performance had the crowd buzzing. After he reached 48 points midway through the fourth quarter, the fans stood up every time he touched the ball. When he scored his final basket to give him 50 points on 18-for-26 shooting, the crowd — filled with plenty of Celtics fans — roared in delight. He heard some calls of “M-V-P!” as he checked out of the game moments later.

MVP chants breaking out for Jaylen Brown at Intuit Dome as he checks out of the game

50 points, 6 assists for him

Unreal stuff https://t.co/x2vAZ3wdB3 pic.twitter.com/2QAyJrPMKl

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) January 4, 2026

Afterward, Brown brought up another label he would like for himself.

“I believe I’m the best two-way player in the world,” Brown said. “I just wanted to come out and show it.”

The term “two-way player” means a lot to Brown. He believes discussion of the NBA often misses what’s most important.

“I think the narratives are just lazy,” Brown said to reporters. “Y’all focus on the wrong stuff in the media. Y’all focus on offense and tough shot making. I just think that’s not basketball. I think basketball is rebounding. Basketball is defense, defensive versatility, making plays. I know it’s entertainment and that’s what we want to push, but if it comes down to this basketball s—, I just feel like I’m one of the best.”

Averaging 30.1 points per game, Brown is on pace to join Jayson Tatum as the only players in Celtics franchise history to average at least 30 in a single season. Though Tatum has been sidelined all season by a torn Achilles, Brown’s production has led to team success. With the win Saturday, Boston finished its road trip at 4-1 and pulled within a half- game of the New York Knicks for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Not many expected the Celtics to be near the top of the standings after they lost about half their rotation, including Tatum, before the start of the season. Brown emphasized how unusual it is for a team to click so quickly after replacing so much talent.

“This is a completely different group,” Brown said. “I want to speak (on) how rare it is to have five, six new players come in and add to winning right away. It says a lot about our leadership. It says a lot about our coaching staff because that does not happen in the NBA. I think that should get talked about more.”

Brown wants more recognition for his team and for himself. If he keeps playing like this, he should eventually receive it.

“I think I’ve always had a great mentality and approach to the game,” Brown said. “I’ve always put the team first. Whatever the coaching staff has asked me to do, I’ve done. Now I’ve been asked to do more because a lot of guys were traded. We’ve been forced to be put in this position, and I’m grateful because I’ve been able to show the world who I am and who I’ve been.

“I just want to keep it up, stay healthy, keep playing team basketball. I’m excited. We play every other night for the rest of this month. I want to just help lead my team to more wins.”

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