Jaylen Brown of the Celtics is now enjoying a successful career, as he leads the Eastern Conference, making him and his team one of the favorites to compete in the NBA Conference Finals. But did you know Jaylen Brown was originally labeled “too smart for the league”? Yes, some may not believe it, but Brown is a brilliant guy.
In 2016, Jaylen Brown was considered a top prospect for the NBA, but one executive disagreed, believing that the Atlanta-based NBA superstar was “too smart” and that the league would not accept him. However, we now know that Jaylen Brown possesses the qualities required of a true professional.
Jaylen Brown is “an extremely intelligent kid”
When the NBA draft rolls around each year, fans, teams, and commentators are expected to evaluate each player’s skill set. However, Jaylen Brown faced another potential obstacle before the 2016 draft. Brown has the physical ability and skills to excel in the NBA after graduating from college. His personality, on the other hand, seems to cause concern for several clubs.
How smart could Brown be being an NBA player? “Too smart”. Like hell, many would say. But he was really smart. It wasn’t just Spears who thought he was intelligent there was another NBA executive as well who thought the same.
Recalling the incident NBA assistant general manager said, “He is an extremely intelligent kid. He took a graduate school class at Cal in his freshman year. He is a person who is inquisitive about everything. Because he is so smart, it might be intimidating to some teams. He wants to know why you are doing something instead of just doing it. I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s a form of questioning authority. It’s not malicious. He just wants to know what is going on. Old-school coaches don’t want guys that question stuff.” H/T-Andscape
Brown averaged 14.6 points and 5.4 rebounds as a true freshman at the University of California-Berkeley, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors in his last season. After Cal was knocked out in the first round of the tournament, Brown immediately opted to skip his remaining collegiate eligibility and join the NBA draft.
