NBA: Brown interview:”I still want to put one on top of it.”

Jaylen Brown has fully established himself in his second season with the Boston Celtics. SPOX spoke to the Guard in London about his Dunks, the interplay with Kyrie Irving – and the influence of Gordon Hayward.

SPOX: Jaylen, you’ve made some very spectacular dunks this season – has there been one that you would call your favorite drink so far?

Jaylen Brown: Not really. I mean, I still have a lot of dunks in my repertoire that I want to show. I still want to add one more, so I don’t think of the dunks I already had, but of those who are to come. Maybe I’ll make my best dunk tomorrow. Maybe not for a couple of years. You’ll just have to stay tuned.

SPOX: The Dunk Contest will now take place without you, is that still a goal for you in the future?

Brown: Not so far, actually – I’m more into dark in the game, because that increases the difficulty level. Terry[Rozier, d. Rozier, d. S. A. is organizing Terry[Rozier] at the training or at the shootaround. Red.] and me our own little contests, but the “big” contest I don’t really have on the slip of paper. I’m watching, of course.

SPOX: Then we come to talk about this season – you play a much bigger role this year than in your rookie year. What has changed for you personally?

Brown: First of all, I just have more options. Last year we had a fixed rotation, which I had to work into as a rookie. Now a lot has happened in the summer and everything had to redefine itself a little bit. Then, of course, Gordon Hayward was badly injured, leaving the grand piano free for many more minutes. I have much more responsibility than last year. Of course, I’ve also matured a bit and worked a lot on my game in summer, but that’s the big difference. I already had the skills last year, I just couldn’t show them that often.

SPOX: In contrast to many other high lottery picks, you had to work hard for minutes and be defensive before Brad Stevens sent you to court. How do you benefit from this today?

Brown: Of course, that makes a lot of difference. The last season was an apprenticeship year for me, as you say, because I had to get used to the speed of the NBA. Just because I was allowed to watch and defend players like Avery Bradley or Isaiah Thomas in the training sessions, I have personally developed a lot. This helps me today, when coach asks me to stick to the opponent’s best guard for over 30 minutes. It prepared me. But that’s exactly how I want to continue learning in the next few years and become a better player.

SPOX: Where you’ve already mentioned the Hayward violation: What were your expectations of the season when you heard about his commitment? He is a different type of player, but would have taken many minutes on the wing for himself.

Brown: I have not linked these expectations at all to obligations, trades or the like. After the playoffs last year I went to the summer with the expectation that I would have a bigger role this season and that I had to do my part for it. Coach Stevens told me that I should expect a big role and prepare myself for it. I already knew that I had to achieve a high defensive standard for this, which is why I worked a lot on it. On the offense, of course. I didn’t play much of a role last year and so many people didn’t know that I could show some things there. But I knew that and wanted to show it to everyone else this year. That’s why I was ready for a more prominent role at the start of the training camp. Even though Gordon’s injury has certainly added a few more pieces to the game, I don’t want to deny that. Either way, the situation is very good for me.

Page 1: Jaylen Brown about his Dunks and the new role

Page 2: Jaylen Brown on Celtics Defense and Kyrie Irving