Jaylen Brown Claims He is the Best Two-Way Player in the World

Jaylen Brown might be one of the more underrated players in the NBA. As of Monday, he is fourth in the league in scoring and top-40 in both total rebounds and total assists on the season. Offensively, he is playing the best basketball of his life. Brown is no slouch on the defensive end either. Brown is guarding one through four most nights, and is often taking the toughest defensive assignment for Boston. 

What’s even more impressive about Brown’s game this season is that he is doing it all with All-NBA co-star Jayson Tatum. Brown has helped keep the Celtics not only afloat in Tatum’s absence, but thriving. Brown’s two-way play has kept the Celtics as the second-seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 37-19. 

Brown recently spoke about his two-way domination and where he thinks he stacks up amongst the other best players in the league. 

“Who I am, I feel like I'm the best two-way player in the world. I play both ends on the court night-to-night. I'm available, which is hard to do. I'm a leader. Help lead my team, empower my team to come out and play confidently, stuff that doesn't always show up on the analytics. And I'm a winner. I come out and try to win every single night.”

Brown has a point here. Of the best players in the league, Brown is one of the most available and most dynamic on both ends of the court. Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are really the only two players who can claim to be better two-way players than Brown this season. 

So even though Brown’s name might not be at the top of most people’s list for best player in the NBA, if you count defense and availability, he needs to be considered in the conversation.