Jaylen Brown picked up another trophy Thursday night after collecting an ESPY for "Best Championship Performance."
The NBA Finals MVP averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the Celtics five-game victory over the Dallas Maverick last month, while locking up Luka Dončić -- who won the ESPY for 'Best NBA Player' -- on the defensive end for much of the series.
"Thank you ESPN. Thank you to my teammates, my organization, my beautiful mother -- who's mad at me," Brown said on stage after receiving his award and drawing some chuckles from the crowd. "God's the greatest of all-time."
While it wasn't clear why Brown's mom was mad at him, the three-time All-Star later posted a photo with her via Instagram.
Brown was seen on the red carpet prior to the 2024 ESPYs at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with his mom and dad and his date, Kysre Gondrezick, by his side -- along with Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck and of course the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
When getting interviewed by former NFL star Cam Newton, Brown had "no comment" on the subject of being passed over by Team USA after Kawhi Leonard withdrew from the roster earlier in the week.
"I don't really got no comment, you known what I mean," Brown told Newton. "I got my beautiful date right there, so."
Newton claimed Brown was trying to "deflect" before moving on from anymore questions regarding news that his Celtics teammate Derrick White got the call Wednesday instead of him to replace Leonard for the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics.
Brown later spoke to Sports Illustrated on the same red carpet -- thanking his fans for all the support surrounding being snubbed by Team USA after being included in initial pool of players back in January.
"It feels great to have support, and one day I'll share my story," Brown told Sports Illustrated. "People don't have all the information in the world that they'd like to know. It just feels great to be here at the ESPYs and to be holding up the Larry O'Brien."
It appeared the decision to have White -- who's coming off a career-year and is considered one of the best two-way players in the NBA -- replace Leonard didn't really seem to sit well with Brown as he posted a cryptic tweet just moments after Team USA Basketball's announcement.
A short time after that, Brown challenged Nike -- who he has had a history with -- by tagging the company in a separate tweet that read: "this what we doing?"
When Nike's founder was critical of Kyrie Irving in 2022, Brown commented "Since when did Nike care about ethics?" In the past, Brown has worn Nike sneakers at times, but on Christmas Day that year he did so without the iconic swoosh.
Team USA executive director Grant Hill denied speculation that Brown was left off of the Olympic team because of the Celtics star wing's criticism of Nike.
"You get 12 spots, and you have to build a team," Hill told reporters following Team USA's first exhibition. "And one of the hardest things is leaving people off the roster that I'm a fan of that I look forward to watching throughout the season, throughout the playoffs. Guys who've been Finals MVPs, guys who've been a part of the program, guys who've won gold medals, guys who I respect, admire and enjoy watching. But the responsibility that I have is to put together a team and a team that complements each other, a team that fits a team that will give us the best opportunity for success.
"And, so, whatever theories that might be out there, they're just that. But that's my responsibility. And it's tough. It's tough to have conversations, tell people that they're not on the team."
While Hill joked about wearing FILA for most of his career before eventually playing for Team USA at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, he reiterated that decisions were made based on one thing in mind -- to win a gold medal.
"I'm trying to win and I'm trying to put together the right pieces that fit and give us a chance to win," Hill said.
Aside from Brown collecting his ESPY, the Celtics were also nominated for "Best Team," which went to the NCAA Women's Basketball champion South Carolina Gamecocks.
Joel Pavón
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