“Both Tatum and Brown suffer from Westbrook syndrome” - Rick Barry gives strong opinion on Celtics duo
The Boston Celtics fell short in their bid to return to the NBA Finals this season, losing to the Miami Heat in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals. Since then, discussions have once again turned toward Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, with the question of whether they can play together being the primary topic.
NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry was speaking to Sports Illustrated's Eric Jay Santos. He said that both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown suffer from "Russell Westbrook syndrome," where they force the issue too much.
“Both (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum, who are two talented players, suffer from what I call (Russell) Westbrook syndrome.
"Westbrook is an incredible talent. I love how hard he plays, but he tries to force things. In the game of basketball, you should always be taking what the defense gives you… Both Jaylen and Jayson, they have a tendency to force things and end up getting a lot of turnovers.”
Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finished in the top five for total turnovers during the playoffs. Neither of them was able to protect the ball consistently when looking to initiate the offense for the Boston Celtics.
As such, genuine questions have now begun to surface regarding whether the Celtics should look to extend Brown to a supermax contract or whether they would be better suited trading him this summer.
Jaylen Brown should focus on quality of life
Former NFL player Ricky Williams was speaking on a recent episode of "The Dan LeBatard Show." He said that Jaylen Brown should focus on his quality of life instead of a potential paycheck when considering his current options.
"Every man has to make a decision to what their values are," Williams said. "Is he playing for the paycheck, or is he playing for something larger? If you're playing for the paycheck, you just put your head down, and you grind.
"If there's something bigger, and you value the quality of life and how you feel about yourself as a man, then you have to make difficult decisions. Part of it is all hype. I say you put your head down. You make a commitment to the team if that's what you want to do. You transcend it."
Jaylen Brown has been with the Boston Celtics since being drafted with the third overall pick in 2016. Since then, he has become one of the league's best scorers. As such, the Celtics face a tough decision regarding the Georgia native's future in the coming weeks.
Brown has participated in 470 regular-season games for the Celtics so far, averaging 17.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 47.7% from the field and 36.5% from deep.
Over the past two years, Brown has made incredible progress. Now, the Boston Celtics boast a genuine All-NBA talent to pair with budding superstar Jayson Tatum. The question is, do those two talents work well together?