"No reaction" - Jaylen Brown counters Jason Kidd's comment on Celtics' best player

Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics had a comfortable win against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Brown had an immense impact on both ends of the floor, guarding Luka Doncic.

On Saturday, a reporter asked Brown about his reaction to Jason Kidd calling him the best player on the Boston Celtics roster. The 2024 Eastern Conference finals MVP had nothing to say to the compliment, adding that Kidd is entitled to his opinion.

"No reaction. It’s a team game and I am trying to focus on that and everybody has their own opinions,” Brown said.

For quite some time, the media has been discussing who the best player on the Celtics team is. When Tatum faltered in the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Jaylen Brown was the team's best player. Even this postseason, while Tatum has struggled from the floor, Brown has performed admirably on both ends.

In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he led the team with 22 points while shooting 58.3% from the floor. Brown also had three steals and three blocks in 37 minutes on the floor.

NBA analyst calls Jaylen Brown the most important Celtics player

It wouldn’t be fair to say that Jaylen Brown has not been given importance by the Boston Celtics, given that he has signed the biggest contract with the team in NBA history. However, when it comes to the narrative surrounding his status as the best player on the team, many see Jayson Tatum as the best player.

After winning the ECF MVP, a shift might be happening around Brown’s status on the Celtics team. In one of the segments of the First Take on ESPN, NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith called Brown the most important player on the Celtics’ team.

"He's the MVP for the Eastern Conference Finals for a reason," Smith said on First Take. "You're looking for Jayson Tatum to perform. You're looking to Jaylen Brown to galvanize the troops while performing."

Smith feels Brown's leadership makes his status even more important. If the Boston Celtics win the NBA title this season and Brown wins the Finals MVP, a lot of the narrative might shift toward him compared to Tatum.

In this playoff, Brown is averaging a career-high 24.8 points while shooting 54.3% from the field and 36.6% from beyond the arc. He is also averaging 1.0 steals and 5.6 rebounds per game.