Cal Basketball: Jaylen Brown Makes Once a Season Return to the Bay
Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics make their one regular-season visit to the Bay Area on Saturday when they face the Warriors in a 5:30 p.m. game at the Chase Center.
It will be Brown’s first shot at the Warriors since last season’s NBA Finals.
The one-and-done Cal star from 2015-16 has improved in each of his seven NBA seasons and returns to the Bay Area enjoying his best season for a Celtics team whose 21-5 record is the best in the league.
While teammate Jayson Tatum — who is averaging 30.5 points — is being discussed as a potential MVP, Brown also has elevated his game.
His 26.7 scoring average is 12th-best in the NBA and by far his career-high. He has scored 25 points or more in 17 of 26 games, with nine games of at least 30 points.
The 26-year-old forward scored 25 points on Wednesday night as the Celtics built a 45-point lead on the way to a crushing 125-98 road win over Western Conference favorite Phoenix.
“We got a good team,” Brown said on NBC Sports Boston after the rout of the Suns. “We gotta stay healthy. We can’t get too big-headed, we gotta stay focused. It’s my job to continue to keep us level. We got games to win so tonight was a good win and we have to get ready for the next.”
That would be Saturday in San Francisco against the defending NBA champs.
Brown, who averaged 23.5 points in Boston’s six-game NBA Finals loss to Golden State last June, has taken his game to a new level.
He already owns the two highest-scoring full seasons ever by a Cal alum in the NBA and his 2022-23 performance is dwarfing anything he’s done before.
Here are the top single-season scoring performances by ex-Cal players in the NBA:
THE 25 HIGHEST-SCORING NBA SEASONS BY CAL ALUMS
1. Jaylen Brown, Celtics, 2022-23: 26.7 points
2. Jaylen Brown, Celtics, 2020-21: 24.7
3. Jaylen Brown, Celtics, 2021-22: 23.6
4. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Grizzlies, 1998-99: 23.0
5. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1989-90: 22.5
6. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1990-91: 22.2
7. Jaylen Brown, Celtics, 2019-20: 20.3
8. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Grizzlies, 1997-98: 22.3
9. Phil Chenier, Bullets, 1973-74: 21.9
10. Phil Chenier, Bullets, 1974-75: 21.8
11. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Hawks, 2001-02: 21.2
12. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Grizzlies, 2000-01: 20.5
13. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1989-90: 20.4
14. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Grizzlies, 1999-00: 20.3
15. Phil Chenier, Bullets, 1976-77: 20.2
16. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1996-97: 20.1
17. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1993-94: 20.0
18. Phil Chenier, Bullets, 1975-76: 19.875
19. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Grizzlies, 2002-03: 19.851
20. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1991-92: 19.692
21. Phil Chenier, Bullets, 1972-73: 19.690
22. Kevin Johnson, Suns, 1995-96: 18.696
23. Jason Kidd, Suns, 2002-03: 18.687
24. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Grizzlies, 1996-97: 18.675
25. Jason Kidd, Suns, 1998-99: 16.9
Cover photo of Jaylen Brown driving on Golden State's Klay Thompson by Kyle Terada, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
