Eleven years ago, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were sent to the Brooklyn Nets in a trade that marked the end of an era in Boston. Little did we know it was also the start of a new, special generation of Celtics basketball.
The C's turned the draft picks they received in the deal into Jaylen Brown (2016) and Jayson Tatum (2017), both selected third overall. They went on to become the foundation for Boston's 2024 NBA championship.
After more than a half-decade of deep playoff runs that ended in disappointment, the Jays finally got over the hump and helped the Celtics bring home Banner 18 on Monday. They topped off a historic 64-18 regular season with a dominant postseason that ended in storybook fashion vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
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Brown and Tatum have made Boston a perennial contender since joining forces in 2017. The Celtics lead all NBA teams with 428 wins (regular season and playoffs) during that span. The closest team is the Milwaukee Bucks with 408.
Both Brown and Tatum are on pace to become all-time Celtics greats at just 27 and 26 years old, respectively. As we celebrate the first of what could be multiple NBA titles for the star tandem, here's a look at their careers so far by the numbers:
Franchise scoring
- Jayson Tatum: 13th (11,852)
- Jaylen Brown: 15th (10,038)
Franchise 3-pointers made
- Jayson Tatum: 2nd (1,296)
- Jaylen Brown: 3rd (1,028)
Regular-season records
- Jayson Tatum: 339-174 (.661)
- Jaylen Brown: 347-193 (.643)
All-Star selections
- Jayson Tatum: 5
- Jaylen Brown: 3
All-NBA selections
- Jayson Tatum: 4
- Jaylen Brown: 1
Conference Finals MVPs
- Jayson Tatum: 1
- Jaylen Brown: 1
NBA Finals MVPs
- Jayson Tatum: 0
- Jaylen Brown: 1