‘Extremely motivated’ Jaylen Brown addresses Olympic ignominy originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Even after leading the Boston Celtics to a championship and winning NBA Finals MVP honors, Jaylen Brown enters the 2024-25 season with a chip on his shoulder.
Brown was strangely left the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics in favor of C’s teammate Derrick White. Although the three-time All-Star has not publicly spoken out about the snub in the offseason, he expressed his frustration through cryptic comments and posts on social media.
There was no avoiding the Olympic drama Tuesday at Celtics Media Day. With the first question at his press conference, Brown was asked if he carries his feelings about the Olympic snub into the new season.
“Question number one? Didn’t it get a little heated? Sh–t,” Brown said with a laugh.
“I’m ready to go. I’m excited to be back. The past is the past, but I’m ready after that, lead our guys, build some team chemistry, not skip any steps, and just set the tone for another year again I is extremely motivated for obvious reasons, and I’m ready after it.”
The Olympic snub wasn’t the only motivation for Brown. The 27-year-old missed All-Defensive and All-NBA honors despite having probably the best season of his career on both ends of the floor.
During NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Media Day special, Brown admitted to using those snubs as fuel.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” Brown told hosts Eddie House, Kayla Burton and Marc D’Amico. “As a competitor, you’re always looking for any key identifiers that could help you get motivated, stay motivated and add to that chip on your shoulder. I’m already that kind of guy. I’m always looking for something. But when things don’t go your way or when those voices get louder, it wakes up even more to drive and be better.
“So I’m excited to get back with the guys. I’m excited to start the new year. Even though I’ve done all this traveling, this is probably — I say it every year — this is the hardest I’ve probably ever worked. .”
As if the extra motivation for Brown isn’t scary enough for the rest of the league, his Celtics co-star Jayson Tatum also has a chip on his shoulder thanks to Team USA. Tatum was benched for two of six games at the Olympics, and while this was a difficult experience for himC’s head coach Joe Mazzulla was thrilled knowing his superstar would be even hungrier coming off an NBA title.
“In real time, it was difficult, but I talked to Joe a lot,” Tatum said Tuesday. “Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP, and that I didn’t play in two of the games of the Olympic Games.”
The Celtics are coming off a historic 64-18 season that was topped off by a dominant playoff run. It will be difficult to duplicate that success with a target on the backbut it certainly doesn’t sound like complacency will be an issue for Boston in its quest for a repeat.
Watch Brown’s full exclusive interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Media Day panel below or on YouTube:
