Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown is coming off his first NBA season, one that was was an eye opener for him in many different ways.

One of which he revealed to Adam Caparell of Complex Sports was having to guard 10-time All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony that occurred in his first preseason action.

“Here in New York in the Garden guarding Carmelo [Anthony] in our first preseason game. The coaches didn’t give me no scouting report—I think they did this on purpose, they just said you’ve got Melo. I think they wanted to get my ass whooped a litt bit. Which is good and humbling and you learn from it because it’s preseason. But at the same time, I think I learned from it. Even though I showed I wasn’t afraid or enamored or shocked, I was. It was like a movie. That was the first time I played at the Garden. The floor was lit perfectly. And Melo’s got the ball. He’s shooting it. He’s hitting you with the jab. I’ve seen it probably a million times and it’s like, damn, I’m in the motherfucking league. I’m guarding Carmelo. You’ve got to do something. That was my welcome to league moment.”

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Anthony is one of the most gifted offensive talents in the NBA has earned that prestigious reputation from his peers over the last several years. It's not surprising to hear that Brown had difficulty guarding the 33-year-old given that it was his first official defensive challenge entering the league.

There were likely many moments like that during his rookie campaign as he got further adjusted to playing at the NBA level, where there are numerous highly talented players in the league. That said, Brown has quickly earned the respect around the league as one of the stouter individual defensive players.

Heading into his second year, it's one of those valuable experiences that Brown can lean on when these type of situations arise moving forward in his NBA career.