Let it be known that Jaylen Brown does not lack in confidence. In a recent live stream, the Celtics star said there’s no person he’d rank above himself right now when it comes to impact on the basketball court. He named Victor Wembanyama as the only exception, but Brown says he doesn’t even qualify as a human anyway.
“That boy Wemby is a problem, a big problem,” said Brown. “When I say I’m the best two-way player in the league, it’s not counting Wemby. He’s not even human. I’m the best human player,” Brown said during a livestream on Twitch.
Jaylen Brown has elevated his game to another level this season amid the absence of Jayson Tatum. Tatum finally made his season debut last night, but it’s been Brown who has carried the way for them in a career-year that has him averaging 28.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game on 48.1% shooting and 34.8% shooting from three.
As the second seed in the East, Brown deserves a lot of respect for what he’s done, and he clearly believes it’s enough to rank him as the best two-way player in the game. At least, the best two-way “human” player in the game. According to Jaylen, Victor Wembanayam falls into a whole different category.
The Celtics star got a closer look at Wembanyama back in January, in their first matchup of the season. Victor, who was just coming off an injury, was still on a minute restriction at the time, but managed to put up 21 points, six rebounds, one assist, zero steals, and three blocks per game on 8-17 shooting from the field (1-4 from three).
Of course, those types of performances are common for Wembanyama, who has emerged as one of the best players in the game. This season, in 49 games for the Spurs, he’s averaging 23.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.0 blocks per game on 50.2% shooting from the field and 34.9% shooting from three.
In less than three full seasons, Victor has established himself as a generational superstar, unlike any other player we’ve seen before. He currently has the Spurs ranked second in the West (46-17) and on track to make a deep playoff run this spring. Ultimately, while Victor still has a lot to prove in the NBA, his peers are well aware of how special and rare his kind of skill set is. It’s up to the Spurs to take advantage of that and ensure they are doing everything they can to put the young star in a position to succeed.
