For Boston’s Jaylen Brown, faith, consistency, and hard work continues to pay off

To Jaylen Brown, faith, consistency, and hard work pays off isn’t just a mantra, but a road map for understanding the brilliant star’s path to success despite the obstacles he’s encountered.

Faith, Consistency, and Hard Work Pays Off.

So goes the maxim that fourth-year wing Jaylen Brown lives by, and has for some time, biding his time while never losing sight of long-term goals, even when the ride gets bumpy.

The 2018-19 was perhaps the greatest test of that maxim, with Brown struggling through tough relationships with teammates neck deep in their own personal interests derailing a greatly-anticipated season in historic fashion.

An early-season hand injury and relegation to a bench role coupled with the problematic internal situation Boston was beset with might have been too much for any third-year player poised to cash in on years of hard work. The worry was real for Brown, even if he didn’t let on much.

“Especially in the role I was in last year, I don’t feel like I got to display my talent,” he explained (via the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy). “I think I have the ability and the talent next to anybody else. But last year I didn’t get to display it, so I thought that was really going to hurt me and it came out, everything worked out in the end.”

The challenge of taming those very legitimate fears his earning potential could have been affected by things beyond his control overshadowed the coming contract season of 2019-20, particularly after dragging his team to the precipice of the NBA Finals just months earlier.

Jaylen, however, kept things close to the vest.

It was, after all, not the first time he had dealt with such issues. In his sole season at Cal-Berkeley, the Georgia native found himself locked into a system and style of play that not only did not showcase the team’s top prospect, but actively made it harder for Brown to shine.

The then-teen could have retreated into himself, or made waves — or even could have requested a transfer to some other school that would cater to his skillset.

The future No. 3 overall pick instead put his head down, and got to work.

If you’re noticing a pattern here, you’re not alone.

While still in high school, during a friendly game against Georgia Tech players he was invited to because of his budding basketball skills, a frustrated older opponent didn’t take kindly to being outshone by a highschooler, and responded in a way that could have changed the entire trajectory of the future Celtic’s life.

“One of the players pushed me because they were mad, because I was cooking him,” Brown said (courtesy of MassLive’s Tom Westerholm). “Like really, he pushed me out of the air.”

Marietta’s favorite son suffered a broken ankle as a result, losing four months at one of the most crucial junctures of his then-nascent basketball career.

In response, Jaylen hit the weight room, and the payoff was big.

“After those four months, he came back and he was pretty much a man amongst boys physically,” his trainer at the time, Desmond Eastmond, said. “I guess that’s when the switch really flipped. ‘You know what? I’m actually one of the best players in the country.'”

Fast-forward to last summer. After the disastrous 2018-19 season came to an end, Brown was right back in the gym, preparing for the next season before the dust had settled on the old one.

In fact, the very next day after Boston was eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks, team assistant coach Tony Dobbins got a text from the former Golden Bear requesting time in the team’s training facility to work on his game.

“We just finished the other day,” Dobbins says of his words to Brown. “You sure you don’t want to take a step away, take some time?”

The response was quick and unequivocal; “Nah. Let’s get it. Let’s get after it.”

Summer hadn’t even ended before the chatter about his contract year began, and while it was weighing on he young wing’s mind, his long-standing habit of leaning into his work when the going gets tough served him yet again.

It certainly helped he was hearing whispers he’d have significant — perhaps even max — offers waiting for him if he made it to free agency.

““I was hearing a lot of good stuff. And that was a possibility,” Brown offered about how inking his current extension took shape.

But the Georgian preferred to stay put, if possible, appreciative of what the franchise which gambled on him had going for it even in the face of the prior season’s tumult.

“Being in this market, playing for the Boston Celtics is not like playing for a lot of other teams, to be honest. Once it came down to something that made sense it was an easy decision, to be honest.”

Now, after vaulting himself into the conversation of being a fringe All-Star candidate behind a season average a single percentage point shy of 20 points and 7 boards per game respectively, those doubting voices have predictably fallen silent.

“I don’t look at [my new contract as an excuse to relax],” offered the Cal-Berkeley product earlier this season after signing his four-year, $115 million (including bonuses) extension, reports NBC Boston’s Chris Forsberg.

“I still got the same mentality, same approach, same preparation for the season. And I still got the same goals. So the load is still on until I get that job done, because that’s what it’s more about – getting a contract extension is great, but I’m playing to try to win and try to help this team as much as I can.

Those results are powering the Celtics through the season despite losing key players like All-NBA guard Kemba Walker, Defensive Player of the Year candidate Marcus Smart, and All-Star wing Gordon Hayward for stretches.

The shadow which once threatened to depress his earning potential is now providing cover for the young shooting guard to attack undetected, feasting from deep and at the rim with new skills developed over last summer while opponents continue to swarm teammates Jayson Tatum and Walker.

Will Brown make an All-Star team for the first time in his career? If history tells us anything about the team’s most cerebral player, it probably matters little, and definitely less than his impact on winning.

But then, that’s always been Jaylen’s mantra, and so far, it’s served him well.

Faith, Consistency, and Hard Work Pays Off indeed — and increasingly, not just for Brown.