Celtics' Jaylen Brown wins NBA Finals MVP

It's appropriate that a member of the Boston Celtics is the first to win a Larry Bird Trophy (Eastern Conference Finals MVP) and a Bill Russell Trophy (for Finals MVP). Combined, those Celtics legends won 14 NBA titles, so Brown has just 13 to go to catch up.

But he certainly embraced the pressure of his huge new contract and Boston's recent playoff disappointments. Before the season, Brown inked an extension worth $303M over five years, a supermax deal he earned by making the All-NBA second team in the 2022-23 season. Then he helped lead the Celtics to the NBA's best record.

In the playoffs, Brown was truly special. He scored 29.8 points per game in Boston's four-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers, saving Game 1 with a difficult game-tying three-pointer.

He averaged 20.8 points in the Finals, along with 5.4 rebounds, five assists and 1.6 steals. But what made him the Finals MVP was his work as the primary defender on Luka Doncic. 

The Mavericks superstar got his points, averaging 29.2 points, but Brown's defense let Boston avoid doubling. Doncic had only 5.6 assists after averaging 9.8 in the regular season. He also had 4.6 turnovers, including seven in the clinching Game 5.

The pressure of the NBA Finals, a big contract, guarding a superstar, trailing late in playoff games — none of them fazed Brown. That's why he's been adding to his trophy collection all spring.