Celtics’ Jaylen Brown’s Shocking Pick for Toughest NBA Player to Guard
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Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has developed into being a highly effective NBA player. He’s known for being a great scorer, but he’s also solid defensively.
That being said, there are a lot of extremely talented players around the NBA.
Brown has drawn quite a few very difficult matchups. He has had to guard players like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Luka Doncic, and many more.
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics reacts after a no foul call against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on March 24, 2025 in… Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics reacts after a no foul call against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on March 24, 2025 in Sacramento, California.
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Recently, Brown opened up about who the toughest player he ever guarded was. His pick was shocking.
Read more: Knicks Linked to Former MVP as Free Agency Speculation Grows
So, who is the most difficult defensive assignment that Brown has gone up against? He revealed that the player is none other than former San Antonio Spurs guard Marco Belinelli.
“Marco Belinelli,” Brown said. “Marco Belinelli used to light me up, bro. He just used to never stop moving and I used to have to chase him around, the system we had. I used to chase Marco Belinelli around all these different screens, and like, he’s not even getting the ball. He’s still moving back and forth so you never know when he’s about to take off full speed and start running and catch the ball but… just fatigued bro.”
No one would have guessed that pick if they hadn’t heard his answer. Belinelli is a rather forgotten name at this point in time.
Belinelli played in 860 career games in the NBA and made 219 starts. He played for nine different teams throughout his career.
When all was said and done, Belinelli had career averages of 9.7 points per game to go along with 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He shot 42.4 percent from the floor and 37.6 percent from the three-point line.
Read more: Report: Warriors Showing Interest in Surprising Free Agent
More than likely, Belinelli would not be picked by many other NBA players. He simply caused a matchup problem for Brown due to his activity.
Heading into the 2025-26 NBA season, Brown will be asked to step up into an even bigger role with the Celtics. Jayson Tatum is set to miss most of the season if not all of it due to a torn Achilles.
Brown will be asked to become the No. 1 options offensive for Boston and will need to handle a large workload defensively as well. It will be interesting to see if he is able to prove that he can be a top player without Tatum on the court.
For more on the Boston Celtics and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
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