Jaylen Brown is one of the best wing players in the entire NBA, and he is proving such this season for the Boston Celtics with Jayson Tatum out of the equation. As the Celtics' lead option, Brown has led his team to a 15-9 record past the quarter mark of the season, and he has suddenly joined the MVP conversation alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and others.
Between his scoring and defensive effort, Brown is once again proving to be an All-Star talent in the Eastern Conference, and his leadership is why he is drawing attention in the MVP race.
However, Brown doesn't seem to want to be in the same class as those competing for the MVP award, especially since he claims those who want to be the league's MVP simply “sell their soul” to become the best floppers in the NBA.
“This new generation, this new era — they're floppers. If you want to be a great player, you gotta sell your soul. You gotta be a flopper,” Brown said on his recent Twitch stream. “If you wanna be an MVP, you wanna be top of the top, you gotta sell your soul and just be a flopper. Y'all tell me: What do you want me to do? Y'all want me to be on that? I can do it!
“I can start going to practice and working on, like, throwing my head (back).”
Of course, Brown is referring to the constant foul baiting many other stars around the league participate in, as some of the highly skilled players constantly in the running for the MVP award are oftentimes referred to as “foul baiters” from NBA fans.
James Harden notoriously earned such a label during the prime of his career with the Houston Rockets when he was at the forefront of the MVP conversation, and now both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic have been criticized at times for doing exactly what Brown described.
Between throwing their head back while driving to the rim or yelling to try and bait the referees into calling fouls, SGA and Doncic are certainly notorious for shooting free throws, as they rank first and second in free-throw attempts this season.
Brown has been in the league since 2016. He has certainly seen his fair share of those who, in his mind, have “sold their soul” to be the best floppers in the league. While he would probably admit that he has flopped at certain times throughout his career, Brown's mindset is that he doesn't want this style of play to define the type of player he is.
The Celtics' star lets his game speak for itself, and that has been enough this season to put him in the MVP conversation.
Through 23 games, Brown has averaged 29.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor and 36.3 percent from 3-point range. His leadership and scoring numbers have put the Celtics in a position to contend this season, and without selling his soul, Brown has certainly become a talking point in the NBA MVP conversation.
