Jaylen Brown once called his shot as a rookie, now sets his eyes on 2024 NBA championship: "One day I'll be here in the finals"

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was named the 2024 Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP after averaging 29.5 points in his team's sweep of the Indiana Pacers. The series win led his team back to the NBA finals, the second one for the former California Golden Bears star.

A clip of the Celtics star courtside just before the Golden State Warriors played the Cleveland Cavaliers in Oracle Arena in the 2016 NBA Finals resurfaced on the NBA's X feed. In the clip, Brown was adamant that he would reach thist stage someday in his career.

"I'm Jaylen Brown, California, Berkeley, right up the street," Brown said. "One day, I'll be here in this final. Now, I got, like, an adrenaline rush. Like, I'm watching Steph Curry warm up, Andre Iguodala warm up, I'm feeling kind of excited. But the draft is right around the corner, and I'll have my chance."

In the clip, then-Golden State Warriors star Andre Iguodala briefly left his warmups to greet Brown.

"Andre, he was my coach at the NBA camp about three years ago, so he just came up, and this is my first time seeing him in three years and he was like, 'You remember me?' And he said he called it. He said he knew I would be here.

"It's almost unreal. Like, it's a great feeling. I mean it's, like, I have the chance to do something special, something good. I'm obviously unique. So, I appreciate Iggy, man. Like, we have a good relationship. I haven't seen him in three years. I don't even know what to feel. Like, I don't know how I'm supposed to act or react to that, but that's great.

"The energy is crazy here. Oracle speaks for itself. ... I wanna be here so bad, I will be here."

Jaylen Brown chose academics in college basketball commitment

Jaylen Brown was a five-star prospect and a one-and-done student-athlete for the California Golden Bears, shunning offers from college basketball bluebloods like the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kentucky Wildcats to join the more academically oriented Cal.

During his sole year at Cal, Brown averaged 14.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2 assists. He was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and made the All-Pac-12 first team. For his efforts, he was picked No. 3 in the 2016 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics.

Since then, Jaylen Brown has gone on to lead his team to two NBA Finals and got the biggest contract in NBA history, worth $300 million.