Tag: Jaylen Brown

Lethal Shooter: ‘It pisses me off that people think I’m just an Instagram shooter’

Chris Matthews, widely known as “Lethal Shooter,” has become one of basketball’s most prominent NBA content creators and shooting coaches. He has trained NBA and WNBA stars such as Jaylen Brown, Grayson Allen, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Matthews …

Chris Matthews, widely known as “Lethal Shooter,” has become one of basketball’s most prominent NBA content creators and shooting coaches. He has trained NBA and WNBA stars such as Jaylen Brown, Grayson Allen, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Matthews played college basketball at Washington State and St. Bonaventure before playing professionally overseas in France, Iceland, and Canada, as well as a season in the D League (before it became the G League). He has successfully transformed his passion for shooting into a thriving career and global brand.

In an interview with HoopsHype, Matthews opened up about his journey, discussing how legendary coaches like Dick Bennett and Tony Bennett, as well as Craig Hodges, influenced him. He reflected on his transition into becoming a shooting coach and shared how his beliefs in patience and resilience were shaped by his own experiences as a basketball player.

Jaylen Brown rightfully took exception to the Timberwolves’ announcers hammering his 3-point shooting

Jaylen Brown’s talent deserved more respect from the Timberwolves announcers.

Sunday night in the NBA featured an awesome battle between the reigning champion Boston Celtics and title contender Minnesota Timberwolves. The Celtics prevailed 107-105 behind a strong shooting performance from perennial All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown (29 points), especially from behind the arc.

But if you ask the Timberwolves announcing crew, there’s simply no way one of the NBA’s best players could ever get hot. C’mon now.

As Brown made four 3s in an approximate two-minute span at the start of the game, the Minnesota commentators weirdly kept hammering how Brown was, actually, a limited shooter because of a poor start to the season. And even as he poured buckets in (Brown finished 7-of-10 from behind the arc), they just wouldn’t let this narrative about a proven veteran superstar go:

“Literally, I would give him that shot.”

Really, you would give a guy who has shown he’s a top-15-caliber player in the league an open 3-point attempt just because of a cold month to start the season (which happens for players all the time)?

Yeah, I don’t think any logical coach comprising a solid game plan would follow that line of thinking. I’d rather someone like Jaylen Brown didn’t shoot open 3s because I recognize that small sample sizes are a thing. He’s a career 36 percent shooter on high volume. He’s not someone you give open looks!

Brown caught wind of the Timberwolves’ announcers’ bizarre criticism and responded with a NSFW comment on Twitter. (Note: I have edited out a portion of his word choice.)

Good for Brown because he’s absolutely right. He understands that mini slumps happen all the time in a league with some of the best basketball players in the world.

Joe Mazzulla hilariously claimed he can’t understand Jaylen Brown because they both mumble

Never change, Mazzulla. Never change.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked to give an update about 2024 NBA Finals MVP winner Jaylen Brown.

Effective communication is important between a coach and his star player, but apparently, it does not always come naturally for Mazzulla and Brown. Boston’s head coach wasn’t able to provide much information about the wing because, according to Mazzulla, they both mumble.

Brown has missed his last three games for the Celtics due to a hip injury, but Mazzulla didn’t actually add additional insights for reporters during his press conference.

The coach said that while he talks to Brown daily, the conversations don’t always go well.

“We both kind of mumble when we talk and we just shake hands and move on.”

When asked if Brown mumbled about his hip at all, Mazzulla said that he “couldn’t understand” him.

Never change, Mazzulla. Never change.

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Netflix’s Starting 5 Season 2 cast is here and NBA fans should love it

Basketball fans are going to enjoy this.

Netflix’s documentary series about the NBA, Starting 5, will come back for a second season and that is fantastic news for basketball fans.

The first season featured big stars LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, and Domantas Sabonis. It was an enjoyable and entertaining watch that offered fascinating insights into the world of players at dramatically different points in their careers.

USA TODAY’s For The Win spoke to Sabonis about his experience filming the show and what it was like having a documentary career following him around during the Sacramento Kings season.

SEASON 1 INTERVIEW: Domantas Sabonis is ‘scared’ and ready for fans to dive into his life on new Netflix show

For those that watched and enjoyed, they can have something more to look forward to.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the show is coming back for another season (!) and will feature five new fresh faces.

The cast is Kevin Durant, James Harden, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Haliburton. The show will follow them during the 2024-25 NBA campaign, which features Brown defending his 2024 NBA championship and Gilgeous-Alexander pursing a potential MVP award.

This should be a lot of fun.

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2024-25 Boston Celtics: A quick preview

The Boston Celtics are again firmly in “championship-or-bust” mode this season, with the high financial stakes adding pressure to their title aspirations. Fresh off their 2023-24 NBA title, led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics now have …

The Boston Celtics are again firmly in “championship-or-bust” mode this season, with the high financial stakes adding pressure to their title aspirations. Fresh off their 2023-24 NBA title, led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics now have their sights set on building a dynasty. But with back-to-back championships eluding all teams since the Warriors of the glory days, Boston faces the challenge of maintaining their edge and avoiding complacency.

Key players like Tatum and Derrick White have been locked into contract extensions, signaling that the Celtics are all-in. Tatum, who averaged 26.9 ppg last season and continues to refine his game, remains the centerpiece of the team. His work this offseason with trainer Drew Hanlen to improve his three-point shooting shows his commitment to leading Boston’s pursuit of another title. Brown, with his ability to attack the basket, complements Tatum, while two-time NBA champion Jrue Holiday, with the help of Brown and White, anchors the defense with his elite play and ability to lockdown opposing team’s star players.

However, the enormous cost of keeping this championship-caliber roster intact looms large. The team is projected to face a staggering $500 million payroll and luxury tax burden by the 2025-26 season. With ownership changes potentially on the horizon, including a rumored sale by team governor Wyc Grousbeck, the financial pressure is mounting. The Celtics have the talent to repeat as champions, but anything short of a title could be seen as a failure, especially given the exorbitant cost of their roster.

Jaylen Brown arrogantly called out the Pistons with a weird flex about the Celtics’ bench players

Jaylen Brown really said the quiet part out loud about the Pistons.

Anyone who follows NBA basketball closely knows that the Boston Celtics could probably lean on their B-team to beat horrible squads like the Detroit Pistons without batting a single eyelash. The rub is that most people who say this in public are fans with no skin in the game.

There’s a big difference between talking ball with your fellow non-pro-athlete friends and someone who actually participates, saying they don’t have to worry about an awful team.

Someone did not pass along this memo to “singing” Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown.

At Celtics Media Day on Tuesday, Brown said, out loud, that the Celtics don’t sweat the usually awful Detroit Pistons. Like, at all. He maintained that the Celtics have an understanding about the Pistons, knowing they can empty their bench and, most likely, still beat Detroit on any given night.

Brown’s not necessarily wrong, but he should probably avoid saying things like this while being recorded, especially after giving the obligatory “no disrespect disclaimer.”

Because everyone watching will rightfully take it as a sign of disrespect:

I, for one, hope the Pistons and Cade Cunningham see this clip and use it as quality motivation. They’ll almost certainly be playing this video a bunch before the first time they play Boston this upcoming season. Truly, what a wild thing to say on camera from a player on the reigning NBA champion.

Comments like this potentially open a can of worms and put an even bigger target on the back of an elite Celtics team everyone in the league is now chasing.

Jaylen Brown’s new song proves that he should probably stick to his day job

I don’t want to tell Jaylen Brown what to do. I also just don’t want to hear him rap anymore.

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a good week so far.

My Friday was going great…until I heard Jaylen Brown rapping on a new song with A$AP Ferg.

And, look, I’m not anti-athletes rapping. I actually enjoy it when we see athletes get into a different bag than the one we’re used to.

Damian Lillard is great at it, obviously. You know who else is really good? Flau’jae Johnson. She’s got star potential on and off the court, which is pretty impressive. That’s the same stuff Shaq used to do.

You know who isn’t very good at it? Jaylen. Brown. This was…not great.

When I heard him rhyme monogamy with astronomy I knew it was time for me to check out. Let’s just say this wasn’t for me.

WARNING: There is some NSFW language included in this tweet

I get what Brown was trying to do here. Vocally, he sounds like a mix of early Dom Kennedy and current Larry June. It kind of works, but it’s just not that smooth. This is somewhere between better than Dwyane Wade (yikes, this was bad) and worse than Kevin Durant (Still not great!).

I’d give Brown an A for effort here. But, uh, you should probably stick to your day job, Mr. Finals MVP.

Rest in peace, Al Attles

On a more serious note, the game lost one of its legends this week.

Warriors legend Al Attles died on Wednesday, the team announced on social media.

He played for the Warriors for 10 years from the 1960-61 season through the 1970-71 season. During that time, the team transitioned from Philadelphia to San Francisco. It’s remained in the Bay Area since.

He was a bruiser — a physical player they nicknamed “The Destroyer” because of how relentless he was on the court.

He transitioned to being a player-coach during the 1969-70 season and became the full-time coach from 1970 until 1983. On the court, Attles led the Warriors to a 1975 championship over the Bullets in a four-game sweep. He has 557 wins, which still stands as the most in franchise history.

As good of a coach as he was on the court, he meant a lot more of it.

Attles was one of the first Black head coaches in the NBA, following in Bill Russell’s and the Celtics’ footsteps. Without him, the league wouldn’t be where it is today.

What a legend. We’ll miss you, Al.

Shootaround

— They had the Warriors all over the DNC this week. Sheesh.

— Sue Bird has three teams she wouldn’t want to play in the playoffs this year, including Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever. Meg Hall has more.

— The NBAPA could probably learn a thing or two from the CBA the NWSLPA put together. This is incredible.

— This cool moment between Tina Charles and Diana Taurasi is what sports is all about, man. Here’s Cory Woodroof with more.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you. We’ll have more next week. Talk to you then.

Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Will Team USA’s snubs set up a revenge tour for star Boston Celtics forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown?

With the Celtics returning intact and a shared sense of urgency, both stars are poised to reclaim their status among the league’s elite.

Will the snubs from Team USA ahead of and at the 2024 Paris Olympics set up a revenge tour for star Boston Celtics forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown? In this episode of the CLNS Media “Big 3 NBA” podcast, the hosts dive into the implications of Tatum’s limited role with Team USA during the Olympics and how it could spark a revenge tour for him and Brown.

Despite the team’s success, Tatum’s minimal contributions have left him looking disrespected, and analysts believe this will fuel his determination to prove his worth on the court. With the Celtics returning intact and a shared sense of urgency, both stars are poised to dominate and reclaim their status among the league’s elite.

Join the hosts as they explore how Tatum’s experiences could transform him into a more vocal leader and what this means for the Celtics’ championship aspirations. Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what they had to say about revenge tour potential next season.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” “Celtics Lab,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Boston’s Jaylen Brown reacts to his high school mixtape

The Georgia native was a top recruit in high school for a reason.

Star Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown did not have an optimal college career due to the style of play and spacing that his coach at Cal played at the NCAA level. But the Georgia native was a top recruit in high school for a reason, and the Celtics placed a bet that that version of Brown was the one worth paying attention to.

We all know what happened after, with the Boston star growing into one of the top players in the league after being picked up by the Celtics with the No. 3 pick of the 2016 NBA draft.

Brown recently sat down and reacted to his play while in high school for a video put together by the folks at the Ball Is Life YouTube channel so you can get a glimpse of what now-Jaylen thinks of then-Jaylen.

Take a look for yourself to see the seeds of the star wing he is today.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Every Boston Celtics player appearance on ‘Shaqtin’a Fool’ since 2011

Watch the clip to see the worst (or at least the funniest) of the Celtics over the last decade and a year.

While it might not be an honor to appear on former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal‘s “Shaqtin a Fool” segment on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” a fair number of Boston players making a guest appearance over the years. The segment, for the uninitiated, is effectively the blooper reel of the dumbest, funniest or weirdest things Shaq and company caught on video that week.

Now, YouTuber and Celtics fan videographer Danielle Hobeika put together an all-time compilation of when Celtics players made the show. The list includes Rajon Rondo, Mikael Pietrus, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Kris Humphries, Vitor Faverani, Kelly Olynyk, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Al Horford, Gerald Green, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

Watch the clip embedded below to see the worst of Boston over the last decade and a year — and try not to drink anything while you watch it.

Check out the Celtics Lab podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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