The Boston Celtics will look quite different when they take the floor to begin the 2025-26 season. With several key players gone, and Jayson Tatum set to miss the majority of the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon, that means Jaylen Brown is going to have to shoulder a bigger workload moving forward.
By now, Brown’s standing as one of the top stars in the league is solidified. A four-time All-Star who won Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP during the C’s title run in 2024, there isn’t much Brown can’t do on the basketball court.
Part of what makes Brown so great is his defensive abilities, as he frequently takes on the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s best offensive player. It’s not easy, though, and Brown recently revealed what the most difficult part of being a top-tier two-way player is.
“The conditioning,” Brown said during a stream on his Twitch channel. “Some people don’t give the same amount of effort on offense that they do on defense. Most of our stars in today’s game, they save their energy for offense, they don’t play defense.”
“That’s fine, that’s what we’ve known to love and enjoy, but I don’t think that’s basketball. You gotta give the same energy on both sides of the ball.”
Story continues below advertisement
Brown doesn’t necessarily have some of the defensive accolades that other guys in the league have, but his defensive impact isn’t lost on Boston. Not only is Brown making a huge impact on offense, where he routinely scores 20 points per night, but he’s also putting in maximum effort on the defensive end of the floor.
Brown’s mentality has become contagious in the Celtics locker room, as the team prides itself on being one of the best defensive units in the league. With guys like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford gone now, though, Brown may have to do even more work on defense to help keep his team afloat next season.