Jaylen Brown Explains Why Marco Belinelli Was His Toughest Player To Guard

Jaylen Brown has gone up against many special players in his nine seasons in the NBA, but none of them gave him more trouble than Marco Belinelli. During an appearance on PlaqueBoyMax's Twitch stream, Brown explained why Belinelli was the hardest player for him to guard. 

"Marco Belinelli, he used to light me up, bro," Brown said. "He just used to never stop moving, and I used to have to chase him around. The system we had was to chase Marco Belinelli around all these different screens. He not even getting the ball, and he still like moving back and forth, so you never know when he about to take off full speed and start running and catch the ball." 

Even Belinelli would have been surprised by Brown's claim, but it does make sense when he explains it. Running after someone through screens all game can be quite exhausting, and fatigue would eventually kick in.

Still, Belinelli never really had any eye-popping games against Brown and the Boston Celtics. The Italian's best game against Brown came on Nov. 6, 2017, when he scored 19 points (6-10 FG) for the Atlanta Hawks in a 110-107 loss to the Celtics.

While Belinelli, whom the Golden State Warriors selected with the 18th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, had a bit of success with the Hawks and some other teams around the league, he is most remembered for his time with the San Antonio Spurs. He had two separate stints with the Spurs and helped them win the championship in 2014.

Belinelli left the NBA in 2020 following his second stint with the Spurs and headed back to Italy to play for Virtus Bologna. He spent five seasons with the franchise he started his career with and retired in 2025 after helping them win their 17th league title.

In total, Belinelli played for nine teams in his 13 seasons in the NBA. He averaged 9.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in that time.

How Far Can Jaylen Brown Lead The Celtics In 2025-26?

This time last year, Brown was at the top of the basketball world. He had just helped the Celtics win the 2024 NBA championship and had been named Finals MVP. His stock was at an all-time high, and many backed the team to repeat as champions. Things wouldn't pan out that way, though.

The New York Knicks eliminated the Celtics in the Conference Semifinals in a series that saw Jayson Tatum tear his Achilles. Tatum is now set to miss the 2025-26 season, and that is a massive blow to the Celtics. He won't be the only big name missing either, with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis being traded away this offseason, too.

Celtics legend Bob Cousy doubts Brown can carry the load by himself and thinks a major rebuilding effort is on the cards. Can the four-time All-Star prove Cousy wrong? Well, to an extent perhaps.

With Brown, who averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2024-25, leading the way, you wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics sneak into the playoffs next season. Will they make much noise in the postseason? That's doubtful, but they shouldn't be bad enough to the point where they end up with a high pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.