Former California men’s basketball player Jaylen Brown, who helped the Boston Celtics win their record-tying 18th NBA Championship, was named the 2024 Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. After five games, the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks. In the series-clinching victory, Brown hit 21 points, including 15 in the first half. He also grabbed eight rebounds and six assists.
Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game with a 44% field goal percentage. Game 3 was his breakout performance, when he scored 30 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and made eight assists. He was Boston’s leading scorer in Game 1 with 22 points.
To his credit, Brown made history by being the first Golden Bear to ever win Most Valuable Player in an NBA Finals game. While accepting the MVP award from teammate Jayson Tatum, Brown stated, “It was a full team effort. Brown was selected to the All-Pac-12 First Team in 2015-16 and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2016. The Celtics drafted him third overall in 2016.
He has been named to the NBA All-Star team three times, and in 2023, he was named to the NBA Second Team.
