Jaylen Brown Shares Surprising Admission After Celtics Lose to Nuggets

Jaylen Brown understands the responsibility of being a high-usage, high-shooting-volume star. When his shot isn't falling, like during the Boston Celtics' 114-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets at the TD Garden, he knows that it has an effect on both sides of the ball.

After a 14/29 shooting night that looked better on paper than in the eye test, Brown admitted that he was gunning for foul calls too much en route to his 33 points, and that hurt the team's defense on the other end.

Brown didn't go easy on the referees, who he felt were calling the game a certain way. He implied that the refs may have been looking to make a statement in how they called the game.

“I’m one of the more aggressive players in the league,” Brown said. “I drive a lot, and the whistle didn’t equate to that. Maybe they wanted to make an emphasis, I don’t know. But I’ll adjust for the next game and kind of see how the game is being called, because if you don’t get some of those calls, and they look like bad shots, and it kind of snowballs on defense.”

Jaylen Brown Accepting Leadership Role in 2025-26

With Jayson Tatum still recovering from an Achilles tendon tear, Brown is taking over the leader mantle on this Celtics team. He's embracing the on-court aspect, posting career-highs in points and assists, and not seeing an efficiency drop with more looks.

Off the floor, he's accepting the responsibility of being the unquestioned alpha, admitting his shot-hunting, and even foul-hunting, can hurt the team on the other end.

It's not a problem if it doesn't become a habit. It's even less of a problem when Brown is fully aware of it.

While the rises of Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and even Neemias Queta have helped key the Celtics' run to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, Brown's play gives Celtics fans hope that this run is sustainable. Brown has always been the best postseason performer of the two Jays, having helped carry Boston to a Game 5 win in the East semis against the New York Knicks after Tatum's injury, and whose absence in the 2021 postseason led to a single Celtics playoff victory that year.

Tatum's injury's silver lining is Brown becoming an unquestionable No. 1 option. If Boston can have two of those playing at their best, or in Tatum's case, whatever his best looks like so soon after that injury, this Celtics team is an immediate threat this April, May, and possibly even June.