Jaylen Brown credits NBA great for telling him to stay with Celtics

Boston Celtics

“I’ve always held onto that message. I want to win first.”

Jaylen Brown has already accomplished plenty with the Celtics — headlined by his NBA Finals MVP performance as part of Boston’s 18th championship in June 2024.

But the 29-year-old star wing was candid this week when asked about the times when he doubted he’d remain in Boston long-term.

Before putting pen to paper on a five-year, $304 million contract extension in July 2023, Brown admitted on a recent stream that he considered leaving the Celtics in search of a greater role elsewhere.

“There were times when things was looking rough here in Boston. I don’t know how many times they put me in trade talks, for whatever reason. It was always something,” Brown said. “There were other players that Brad [Stevens] or whoever thought the organization was a better fit or they were paying more money, whatever. 

“So I was like, you know, I think it may be time to go, you know what I mean? I could go somewhere else. I’m talented. I think I can score the ball at a very, very high level. I’m not allowed to grow the same like other players because I’m on a different type of, whatever.”

Even though Brown had legitimate reasons to be frustrated after hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors over the years, he said that NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady convinced him that staying with Boston was the right move.

“T-Mac was like, ‘Stay, bro.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ I’m thinking, like, T-Mac and Vince [Carter], T-Mac chose to leave [the Raptors] in order to go be the T-Mac who he initially was,” Brown said. “I’m thinking that’s what he was going to say. 

“He was like, ‘Na, bro, trust me, whatever you can do, if you can stay and you’ve got an opportunity to win, win.’ I was like, damn, and I forever took that with me. Even behind closed doors when things have always been up and down, I’ve always held onto that message. I want to win first.”

McGrady might have been speaking from experience.

While McGrady achieved plenty of success as the top star on both the Magic and Houston Rockets, he might have achieved even more success had he stayed with Carter as a dynamic 1-2 punch with the Raptors.

McGrady did punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame as one of the top scorers of his generation, but he was also never able to get over the hump and win a championship across his 15 seasons in the NBA.

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.