Jaylen Brown's struggles throughout this early get-go have been quite noticeable coming off the best season of his career in 2017-18, as the shooting guard has been far from the same lethal slasher and 3-point shooter that helped the Boston Celtics to a long playoff run.
Brown missed three games at the end of November after hurting his back against the Dallas Mavericks, only to come back to a new role, as Marcus Smart had taken his spot in the starting lineup.
While he has thrived in his new role, scoring 21, 23 and 19 points in each of his three stints off the bench, he by no means has accepted it as a permanent one.
“It's probably been the hardest thing I've had to deal with so far in my career,” Jaylen Brown told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan. “Just coming from a position where you had so much responsibility, and now that responsibility is lessened. Expectations have been raised, but your responsibility goes down, so it's hard to reach those expectations when you aren't being asked to do as much.
“It's been a challenge. It's going to continue to be a challenge. It's all about your mindset, so that's what I'm focusing on.”
The Celtics have gone on a six-game win streak since Brown hurt his back and Smart was named a starter, which has only given Brown a broader perspective with his team starting to shake off a slow start to the season.
“So here's my reality: I'm an NBA player on the Boston Celtics, a team that has a chance to compete for the NBA championship,” said Brown. “Nothing else really matters.”
Brown might get a chance to regain his starting spot at some point this season, be it through injury replacement or a shuffling of the deck, but coach Brad Stevens will delicately manage the situation as it goes — and since it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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