Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has silenced a lot of his critics so far this season. Brown has been excellent in all facets of basketball through 15 games, and he has the Jayson Tatum-less Celts on a winning track, an achievement many people assumed JB was incapable of, especially given Boston’s other roster losses. Brown’s 27.5 points per game on 50.3 percent shooting — while impressive — don’t tell the full story of his impact. He’s playing a special brand team ball, and he’s leveled up as a leader for the Celtics, something essential for a club that no longer features guys like Al Horford and Jrue Holiday. JB’s impact goes beyond numbers, but then again, there is at least one stat that’s hard to ignore. It was highlighted on Wednesday by Celtics reporter Taylor Snow: Brown’s 156 made field goals this season are second only to reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jaylen Brown has made 156 field goals this season (at a 50.3% clip).The only player who has made more is the reigning MVP.1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – 161 FG2. Jaylen Brown – 156 FGGiannis Antetokounmpo – 156 FG4. Lauri Markkanen – 1465. Devin Booker – 143 pic.twitter.com/Xev9Jk89pX— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) November 19, 2025 Jaylen is tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo in second place behind SGA, meaning that he’s shoulder-to-shoulder in the category with two guys who have three league MVP trophies between them. Story continues below advertisement Brown is no stranger to MVP awards. He won NBA Finals MVP in 2024, but a league MVP is something that will presumably always evade him, as it does all but far less than one percent of NBA players. None of this is to say that JB has a legit chance to win MVP this season (he does not). On the other hand, a First Team All-NBA selection is by no means out of the question. More so, the point here is that Brown deserves his flowers for being a very nice first option for the Celtics this season. Sure, we’re only 15 games into an 82-game slate, but it’s a large enough sample size to suggest that Brown doesn’t need to prove to anyone that he can be a go-to guy on a decent team. Story continues below advertisement Next up, haters will inevitably move the goal posts on Jaylen and point out that he can’t be an alpha on a title team. Well, did anyone ever expect him to be? And besides, who’s ever won a title as a lone star? Jordan needed Pippen. More recently, Jokić had Murray. And Tatum had … Brown.