Isaiah Thomas didn’t expect Celtics star Jaylen Brown to reach this elite level

Perhaps no one in the entire NBA had a more resurgent 2023-24 season than Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown. Entering the campaign, Brown was facing legitimate questions about the recent $300 million-plus contract he had signed and mockery over his lack of ability to dribble with his left hand following a meltdown of a series against the Miami Heat in 2023, but the Celtics star bounced all the way back with the best season of his career and a Finals MVP trophy en route to helping his team win the championship.

In fact, so stark was Brown's progression that even some of his former teammates are surprised at just how far he has come. One of those people is former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, who was teammates with Brown during the latter's rookie season in 2016-17, when the team went to the Eastern Conference Finals. Recently, Thomas broke down his thoughts on Brown's progression during an appearance on the Knuckleheads Podcast.

“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t see this at all. But you've seen traits of him being great, he was always in the gym, he was always asking questions,” said Thomas. “I’ve never really seen a rookie asking questions on how to get better, how to do the right things to get on the court. So he was always a student of the game and he just worked.”

Thomas also gave examples of just how eager Brown was to learn at such a young age.

“Like he wanted to play on-on-one after practice,” said Thomas. “He wanted to do all those things. You've seen his skill set but I’d be lying to you if I said down the line he was going to be finals MVP, I didn’t know that but I'd seen how special he could be.”

A breakout season

Not only did Jaylen Brown win the Finals MVP for the Celtics for his efforts vs the Dallas Mavericks, but he also took home the Eastern Conference Finals MVP the previous round vs the Indiana Pacers.

This of course has predictably ignited debates about who is better between himself and fellow Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, proving that the origins of those media-induced tensions were never about the duo's lack of ability to win together but rather just generating headlines and controversy.

In any case, Brown and the Celtics will open up the 2024-25 NBA season at home vs the New York Knicks on October 22.