NBA players paul pierce and jaylen brown dunk side by side in a composite image
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Paul Pierce, former on-court leader of the Celtics, has advice for Jaylen Brown.
Jaylen Brown‘s NBA resume has “been there/done that” written all over it.
In large, bold letters.
The Celtics swingman is an NBA champion, four-time All-Star, Finals and conference finals MVP. He’s also one year into a five-year contract that pays him an average of some $57 million per season.
But even as a registered star in the Association’s constellation (Hoopus Major) Brown is in for a new experience in this, his 10th season. With Jayson Tatum felled by a ruptured Achilles‘ tendon, Jaylen will be even further front and center as the Celtics seek to compete while paring the roster to escape the clutches of the dreaded second apron (insert horror move shrieks here).
In case Brown needs navigational advice for this new-ish journey, well, no less an authority on the subject than Paul Pierce has some advice — and analysis.
Later in a recent conversation with Heavy Sports on the state of the Celts, the Hall of Famer and franchise legend zeroed in on Brown and what will be required of him in 2025-26.
First of all, he noted that some aspects of JB won’t have to change at all — in particular, leadership.
“I’ve always looked at Jaylen as an important voice there,” Pierce said. “When they’re in practice and in the locker room, from what I’m seeing, Jaylen just personality-wise is a more vocal person than Jayson.
“Your best player don’t always got to be your leader. Our championship team (2008) was crazy because we had a thousand voices — (James) Posey, Eddie House … we had about 10 leaders on that team. It wouldn’t always have to come from me or KG, you know what I’m saying?
“But you see it in guys’ personalities, and naturally Jaylen is a vocal dude in the media, on the court. So he ain’t looking at nothing different as far as that.”
Pierce then turned to the game and added, “For him, it’s about what he can do better on the court. This is the thing: when you start getting more of the rope, you’ve got to be more responsible. So he’s going to get more leeway — and not that he didn’t have all of the leeway, but now he’s the main focus. So with that comes more responsibility. You know, ‘How do I get my other teammates involved more? Where I gotta maybe change my game up a little bit?’
“Like, I had to change my game up (with the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen). It’s a different situation, but it’s really like that for him. He can’t have the mindset like, I’ve got to go in and score more points because we’re losing points in Tatum. No, I’ve got to be more responsible. I’ve got to make the players around me better. I’ve got to learn the game more well-rounded. That’s what’s going to make him better in the long run as a player.”
And Pierce believes Brown will be excited for the challenge.
“I think he’s going to get an opportunity to show more of his versatility,” he said, “because, you know, he handles the ball, but he doesn’t get the same responsibility that Tatum gets. Tatum had the ball more for handling and making plays, and now that’s on Jaylen. How much better can he be in a pick-and-roll situation making decisions? He didn’t really have that responsibility as much as Jayson did. That’s what I’m going to be looking at, how he’s going to be responsible when he’s shouldering the offensive load.”
Pierce has been through this roundball wringer. He had to step up when it was clear he had surpassed Antoine Walker and again when Walker was traded. He struggled at times with the transition.
More than a year after Shaquille O’Neal had anointed Pierce as The Truth, I checked in with Shaq to discuss Pierce’s progress.
Said the Big Aristotle, “Everybody wants to be the man, but they don’t know all the things that go with being the man.”
The Paul Pierce 2025, possessor of greater wisdom, acknowledged the sometimes rocky road.
“But I was young, too,” he told Heavy. “Think about it. I was in my third or fourth year. We’re looking at Jaylen; what is he in, his 10th year? It’s different. I was still growing as a player, period, but I was asked to do a lot more at a younger age than him.
“But it’s always a growing period, no matter how long you’re in the league. Now it’s the responsibility part, because he may have to see the game in a little different way — more through his teammates and what he can do when you’re the one they’re looking to. How are you going to be in practice? How are you going to be vocally?”
The leadership signs are certainly there with Brown, a vice president in the Players Association. But the young Mr. Pierce also provided evidence that he understood responsibility.
He was reminded of a game when Rick Pitino had taken far longer than usual after an ugly night to come to the interview room for his post-game chat. Most of the players had jumped on the opportunity to get out of Dodge and so were absent when the media came for their thoughts.
Pierce was about to walk out through what as an inner doorway in the old Celtic dressing room configuration. He saw the reporters and glanced back at an empty room. He then turned and went back to his locker, saying, “Somebody’s got to answer for this.”
“I know I did that a lot,” Pierce said the other day. “I remember doing that. Those guys would run sometimes.”
He laughed at the recollection, but was told that, hey, he showed maturity. Asked what the hell had happened to that maturity since then, he laughed again.
“Just out the window, huh,” Pierce said. “I done lost it.”
Nah, that wouldn’t be the truth — or Truth.