Shortly after being drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2016, Jaylen Brown said he would "go to war for this city."
Eight years later, he and the Celtics have conquered pro basketball by eliminating the Dallas Mavericks with a Game 5 win in the 2024 NBA Finals for the franchise's record 18th championship.
Brown made the most significant impact of any player for the Celtics in the series and was voted the winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award. Seven of the 11 voters chose Brown.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The 27-year-old guard averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.8 blocks and 1.6 steals per game in the series. He made many important plays, including a massively clutch jumper late in Game 3 that helped the Celtics stave off a Mavs comeback attempt. Brown took control of the MVP race in that Game 3, during which he scored 24 points in the second half (30 overall).
Brown scored 21 points with eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in Game 5 as the C's secured the title.
More Celtics coverage
The Finals MVP award was introduced in 1969. Brown joins John Havlicek (1974), Jo Jo White (1976), Cedric Maxwell (1981), Larry Bird (1984 and 1986) and Paul Pierce (2008) as Celtics players to receive this honor.
Brown is the first Celtics player to win Finals MVP since the award was renamed after franchise legend Bill Russell in 2009.
The Celtics selected Brown with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He has made enormous improvement in every facet of his skill set over that time. Not only has Brown became a tremendous scorer, he's also one of the top defensive players in the league. His two-way impact was felt in this series as he did a great job guarding Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.
Finals MVP is the second award Brown has added to his trophy case in recent weeks. He also was voted the winner of the Larry Bird Trophy as Eastern Conference Finals MVP after the Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers.