Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Says Warriors Leaving Him Open From 3 Was ‘Disrespectful’

The Golden State Warriors (for some odd reason) left Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown open from 3 yesterday (3/3). Warriors forward Draymond Green, one of the top defenders in the NBA, repeatedly sagged off Brown and dared the Celtics swingman to shoot. 

The Warriors’ strategy failed miserably, as Brown shot 5-of-10 from beyond the arc in the Celtics’ 52-point win at home. 

“It was a little disrespectful to me,” Brown said, via The Athletic. “But it is what it is. Came out and I do what I do best. My teammates empowered me. They were like, ‘We don’t care if you shoot every shot down.’ On this team, it’s about making the right plays, getting guys involved. I feel like I’ve been doing that all season long and I’ma keep doing that. But don’t get it twisted.”

Brown finished with 29 points against the Warriors while shooting 11-of-19 from the floor, 5-of-10 from 3 and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. The Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA at 48-12, have won 11 games in a row. 

“Obviously it caught me and everybody by surprise,” Brown said. “Maybe it was some type of mind game they were trying to play. But it definitely engages you, it definitely heightens your focus on offense and defense. Tonight after those moments during the first, I just saw it play out.”

The Warriors treated Brown like he was Ben Simmons or Russell Westbrook. Brown took Golden State’s strange method personally and went off. 

“It feels great (when a team can’t stop the Celtics), but at the same time it’s always within humility,” Brown said. “At any given point that can be us and we don’t take the game for granted. We didn’t come out and mess around and that’s just how we show our respect to the game. We handle business and take care of it, but we don’t do it arrogantly. We do it with humility. And it’s a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors, but we feel like it’s our time now.”