Giannis Names Celtics’ Jaylen Brown as NBA’s Best Player, Cites 2024 Finals Win
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Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo called Jaylen Brown “the best player in the NBA” for his role in leading the Boston Celtics to the 2024 title.
“I feel like the best player is the guy that wins a championship, wins it all, and is the best player for his team. So the best player in the NBA, probably I would say is Jaylen Brown,” Antetokounmpo told Complex Sports.
Antetokounmpo continued: “You cannot say you’re the best player if you’re on a team who didn’t win. It doesn’t matter if you got the MVP, or you’re All-NBA. If you don’t make your team win, that’s not the best.”
Brown was named MVP of the 2024 NBA Finals after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists while helping power the Celtics’ defense through five games against the Dallas Mavericks.
Antetokounmpo said he would list himself as the third-best player in the NBA last season, a ranking he called “very generous.”
But the Bucks star remained firm in his stance that the “best” player of the 2023-24 campaign had to have led his team to the title at the end of the season.
Antetokounmpo indicated he wasn’t interested in hearing about any “best player” candidates who had not been named MVP of the NBA Finals the year below, which would disqualify Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić or Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić from earning the honor.
“Above me, probably Jokić, you say,” Antetokounmpo said. “And Luka? Yeah but, if you don’t win, you’re not the best.”
Antetokounmpo continued: “Last year, yeah, Jokić was the number one player in the world. And before that, it was Steph Curry, number one player in the world. And before that, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo, number one player in the world.
“That’s how I see it. People don’t like that, but it’s the reality of things.”
Antetokounmpo was named Finals MVP in 2021 for his role in leading the Bucks to their first title since 1971, including a 50-point performance in the title-clinching Game 6. It sounds like he won’t consider himself the best player in the NBA, regardless of what he is able to accomplish during the regular season, unless he repeats that postseason feat in 2024.
The Bucks kick off the regular season on Wednesday night with a road contest against the Philadelphia 76ers.
