According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter.
Joining him in the first five in LA will be New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
There are very few words that can effectively describe what Brown has been able to do this season. Incredible, astonishing, and unbelievable don’t fully do justice to his 2025-26 campaign.
Entering the year, national pundits and TV anchors counted Boston out. Jayson Tatum, out with an Achilles tear. Kristaps Porzingis, traded. Jrue Holiday, traded. Al Horford, gone in free agency. Luke Kornet, gone in free agency. The very fabric of what the Celtics had been for the previous two seasons was gone.
In its place were Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Joe Mazzulla.
Yet through the meticulous work of Brad Stevens, Mazzulla, and the rest of the Celtics’ staff, they’ve defied all outside expectations. Boston currently sits in second place in the Eastern Conference and has the third-best point differential in the NBA (behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Pistons).
Brown has been the head of the snake.
Rather than forcing the current Celtics group to play the same style of basketball that had led the organization to two straight 60-win seasons, Mazzulla pivoted. He knew the play style had to change to adapt to the players. Not vice versa. And Brown was the key to it all.
For years, Brown adapted to a three-point-heavy scheme that worked wonders but wasn’t necessarily in his ideal comfort zone. Now, Brown has the freedom to lead the Celtics’ shot profile in his preferred direction.
The results have spoken for themselves.
“Maybe the way I play basketball doesn't jump off the charts analytically, to some degree, in some capacity,” Brown said at Celtics shootaround in Atlanta. “So, I can see why people may think that maybe me being put in this role, it wouldn't be successful. But there's more than meets the eye, you know.
“So, I've just been playing my game, and I play off rhythm, I play off feel, I play off what I see, and sometimes that doesn't show up on the analytics.”
Brown is averaging 29.7 points (fourth in the NBA), 6.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while shooting 49.1% from the floor and 36.7% from deep (5.9 three-point attempts per game).
The former Finals MVP has been a face of the Celtics organization since 2016. And each and every year, he’s done what it’s taken to win basketball games.
In the past, that has meant taking on a lighter workload in the pursuit of victory. Shooting more threes. Playing more off the ball. Changing his natural game.
Now, the Celtics need Jaylen Brown to be Jaylen Brown.
And he’s never been better.
