Kyrie Irving's tough love approach with Jaylen Brown seems to be working

Share

Kyrie Irving is just 26 years old. But with seven full seasons, an NBA title and experience with LeBron James under his belt, he considers himself a leader.

And he's taking that role seriously to help a struggling young Boston Celtics star turn things around.

ESPN's Jackie MacMullan published an insightful column Wednesday about Jaylen Brown, who struggled mightily early in the 2018-19 season but has turned things around in a huge way lately.

The highlight of that column: Irving candidly describing how he's pushing Brown to improve his game.

"I have such high expectations for a guy like Jaylen, knowing how smart he is off the court, knowing his intellect, how he likes to be challenged," Irving told MacMullan. "On the court, you just know there's so much more for him. You can see how much better he can get.

"I don't think Jaylen has ever been challenged in this way. When you're challenged sometimes, and you've been only doing it for three years, you can question a lot of things. You question yourself, and your confidence wavers because everything you've been doing up to this point has worked. You're used to doing little things to get you out of a rut, but suddenly that's not happening."

That's the situation Brown found himself in early in the season, when he ranked 417th out of 430 players in ESPN's Real Plus-Minus Ratings, per MacMullan.

But Irving has continued to ride the third-year guard to help him snap out of that rut.

"I think he deserves that," Irving said. "In my career, I've had the opportunity to play with another great player (James) who demands greatness out of you every single day. That comes with certain expectations. Sometimes you don't know exactly what those expectations are until you experience them. And that's what Jaylen is dealing with now.

" ... The beautiful thing about Jaylen is he's smart enough to figure this out. He's in a transitional year."

Brown appears to be turning the corner since returning from a back injury. But if he slips at all, it sounds like Irving will be right there to keep him honest.

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.

 

NBC SPORTS BOSTON SCHEDULE

Contact Us