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‘Extremely motivated’ Jaylen Brown addresses Olympic snub originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Even after leading the Boston Celtics to a championship and earning NBA Finals MVP honors, Jaylen Brown enters the 2024-25 season with a chip on his shoulder.
Brown was oddly left off Team USA’s roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics in favor of C’s teammate Derrick White. Although the three-time All-Star didn’t publicly open up about the snub in the offseason, he expressed his frustration through cryptic comments and social media posts.
There was no avoiding the Olympic drama Tuesday at Celtics Media Day. With the first question at his press conference, Brown was asked whether he’s carrying his feelings about the Olympic snub into the new season.
“Question number one? Didn’t get to warm up a little? S—,” Brown said with a laugh.
“I’m ready to go. I’m excited about being back. The past is the past, but I’m ready to get after it, lead our guys, build some team chemistry, not skip any steps, and just set the tone for another year again. I’m extremely motivated for obvious reasons, and I’m ready to get after it.”
The Olympic snub wasn’t the only motivator for Brown. The 27-year-old missed out on All-Defensive and All-NBA honors despite having arguably the best season of his career on both ends of the floor.
During NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Media Day special, Brown admitted to using these snubs as fuel.
“I would be lying if I say I didn’t,” Brown told hosts Eddie House, Kayla Burton, and Marc D’Amico. “As a competitor, you’re always looking for any key identifiers that could help you be motivated, stay motivated, and add to that chip on your shoulder. I’m that type of guy already. I’m always looking for something. But when things don’t go your way or when those voices get louder, it makes you wake up even more to drive and be better.
“So I’m excited to get back going with the guys. I’m excited to start the new year. Even though I did all that traveling, this is probably — I say it every year — this is the hardest I probably ever worked.”
As if the extra motivation for Brown isn’t scary enough for the rest of the league, his Celtics co-star Jayson Tatum also has a chip on his shoulder thanks to Team USA. Tatum was benched for two out of six games at the Olympics, and while that was a challenging experience for him, C’s head coach Joe Mazzulla was thrilled knowing that his superstar would be even hungrier coming off an NBA title.
“In real time, it was tough, but I talked to Joe a lot,” Tatum said on Tuesday. “Joe was probably the happiest person in the world, that I didn’t win Finals MVP, and that I didn’t play in two of the games of the Olympics.”
The Celtics are coming off a historic 64-18 season that was topped off by a dominant playoff run. It’ll be difficult to duplicate that success with a target on their back, but it sure doesn’t sound like complacency will be an issue for Boston on its quest for a repeat.
Watch Brown’s full exclusive interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Media Day panel below or on YouTube: