For the better part of the past decade, NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady has been pushing Jaylen Brown along the path to All-Star status. But McGrady believes a first-round playoff victory over the Brooklyn Nets could catapult both Brown and Boston Celtics running mate Jayson Tatum to new heights of NBA stardom.
After Brown and Tatum helped Boston escape with Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Nets, McGrady said he believes the Celtics-Nets series could stretch out over seven games but believes Boston will emerge on the strength of its depth and defense.
And that triumph could have a long-lasting impact on the Celtics' pillars.
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"Both [Brown and Tatum] are going to take their game even further if they beat [Kevin Durant] and Kyrie [Irving]," McGrady told NBC Sports Boston. "That’s a huge mountain to climb. You got faith. You’re talking about champions. ... KD and Kyrie, to knock those guys off in a first-round playoff series, when they're healthy -- woo. That, to me, will elevate their game right there."
The McGrady-Brown connection stretches back to 2014 when Brown, still a Georgia high schooler, tweeted McGrady in search of inspiration. McGrady replied imploring Brown to, "Remember humble and hungry."
And Brown did.
Last season, after earning his first All-Star nod, Brown wore a pair of adidas sneakers with McGrady’s message etched on the side.
The message resonated with McGrady, the founder of Ones Basketball League, a new one-on-one basketball league.
"When we talk about reaching greatness, for me, it's not what you do, per se, on the basketball court and the things that you you accomplish. I think greatness to me is how you inspire the next generation," said McGrady. "And for me to inspire a young kid in high school that was watching me while I was playing and then he has reached the heights of making a name for himself in the NBA, and still holding onto some of the things that I told him in high school, I mean, to me that's love, man. That's greatness to me. And I'm appreciative that I was able to inspire some of these guys that came after me."
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McGrady invited Brown to his Houston home to work out together in the summer of 2018. Brown documented his visit on his social media platforms and blossomed in the aftermath, culminating with last year’s All-Star selection.
What exactly did McGrady teach Brown in their summer lessons?
"Just get a deeper bag," said McGrady. "Get a deeper bag, being a guy that's dynamic on the offensive end. Kind of cut down his dribbling, less dribbles, be more effective working in certain areas to where you don't have to dribble the ball 10-15 times to get a shot. Just working in those minute areas to be able to create your shot in such a small space with less dribbles. And I've been seeing some of the creativity with him. His 3-ball -- I talked to him about his 3 ball. I thought the last couple of years, the way he was shooting it, he couldn't be efficient in it. And he's made that change. So he's more much more efficient with the long ball.
"So that opened up his game now. When guys are open to really willing to learn and soak up that type of knowledge and want to get better -- and he's that type of dude that he wants to be great. And he doesn't feel like he has all the answers."
Brown overcame a rocky start in Game 1 against the Nets to shine in the fourth quarter. Brown relentlessly attacked the basket with six of his seven attempts coming at the rim. His only other attempt produced a monster 3-pointer with 4:05 to play after the Nets pushed their lead to 5.
Brown's biggest bucket came with 38 seconds to play and Boston down 3. With Brooklyn smothering Tatum on one side of the floor, Brown made the quick decision to attack Bruce Brown, finishing a layup at the rim that set up Tatum’s buzzer-beating heroics.
Brown's assist percentage spiked to 18.8 percent over his final 33 appearances of the 2020-21 season. His assist percentage nearly doubled from two years ago. Brown’s assist percentage lingered at 9.6 percent for the 2019-20 campaign but bumped to 16.2 percent last year. It bumped again this year, landing at 17.3 percent, which ranked in the 89th percentile among all wings, per Cleaning the Glass data.
That late-season leap, coupled with Boston’s surge up the standings, is encouraging to McGrady. Especially after listening to some pundits suggest it was time to split up the Tatum/Brown combo amid Boston’s slow start this year.
"I told JB this, too, because that’s my little bro. I told him during the season, I said one of you guys is going to have to be a facilitator," said McGrady. "You’re gonna have to figure that out. Because it can't be my turn/your turn on the offensive end. Y’all have too much talent. So one of you guys is going to have to up your facilitating abilities in order for you guys to be efficient on the offensive end and really just get more guys involved."
Tatum leveled up as a passer near the start of Boston’s second half surge in January. Brown did the same later in the year. Now Boston’s offense thrives off ball movement instead of leaning on the Jays to deliver in isolation play.
Still, with Boston’s defensive dominance this season, McGrady is bullish on this Celtics team’s chance to advance in a top-heavy East.
"Defensively, I mean I haven't seen a transition like that in a season in a team in quite some time," said McGrady. "They stuck with it and it’s tough when you’ve got a tough defensive-minded team like that and then you got guys on the offensive end that can fill it up. I love what I see out of those guys."
McGrady loves how receptive Brown has been to constantly improving his game. McGrady hopes he never loses that approach.
"When you have established a name for yourself in this game, it's tougher for young guys to really seek that advice from guys outside of the game because, again, they think they have arrived and they know it all," said McGrady. "JB is a guy that's willing to learn. He's open to criticism and advice that is coming from me. Anything that will help his game and help him mature as a basketball player and achieve the goals that he wants to achieve.
"I love the guy. I love guys that have that type of mentality."
Note: Games 2-6 of the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics series will be aired on NBC Sports Boston and can also be streamed on NBCSportsBoston.com or with the MyTeams App, which you can download below.