"We Build Our Offense Off Killer Whales" - To No Surprise, Jaylen Brown Absolutely Crushed His 'Hot Ones' Appearance
It's been well documented what an incredible run Jaylen Brown has been on ever since the 2023-24 season first started. From signing his massive deal to the on the court dominance, winning ECF MVP and Finals MVP, dating Kysre Gondrezick, all his off the court initiatives, it really has been an all time run for Jaylen and nobody deserves it more than him.
Well, we can now add another achievement to the list, and that's completely crushing his Hot Ones appearance.
I'm sure I'm not alone here, but one thing I love about all of these episodes is how good of an interviewer Sean Evans is. I feel like most people in this spot just ask the same old boilerplate PR questions that don't get a very interesting response, but with Evans, it's the complete opposite and in my opinion, it's what makes this show so entertaining to watch. He's informed, his questions are things we actually want to hear, and it's not just lip service to make his guest look good. Considering Jaylen doesn't do a lot of media/podcasts/etc, I was interested to hear what Evans could get out of him and man did it not disappoint.
First off and maybe most importantly, Jaylen made it through the gauntlet and took it mostly like a champ. You usually see the guests really start to feel the heat as they get further and further and for the most part, Jaylen took it all in stride. Even as someone who loves spicy food, I'd probably call it a life eating something that had a Scoville level of 2.693M. That sounds miserable and to think Jaylen didn't take a single drink during that entire experience is pretty insane.
In terms of my favorite parts, it's impossible to not love his breakdown of the Celtics' "Killer Whale" offense
which is easily the most Joe Mazzulla thing of all time. While some may think it's corny, I say grow up. When you're winning, nothing is corny. For all we know this out-of-the-box thinking is what goes into making the Celts so dominant, so to me if you hate on that it's more based on jealousy than anything else.
I also found it really interesting when Jaylen started breaking down his defensive approach. Explaining how different players have different rhythms and how certain guys make it hard to track was pretty cool to hear. We all saw what a massive impact Jaylen's on-ball defense had in their title run, and hearing him break all that down shows us he's truly a student of the game. Sure he's physically gifted, but that stuff doesn't mean shit if you aren't willing to put in the time and study your opponent.
He also listed his favorite career game winner, and it's hard to disagree with his choice
I'm not being dramatic when I say that this jumper was one of if not the biggest shots in modern Celtics history. It's like PJ Brown's jumper in 2008 and this when it comes to this era of Celtics basketball. Without a doubt it was the most cathartic jumper I've seen a Celtic make in my lifetime, because not only did it effectively win the game, it won the Celtics the championship. 16 years of pain all washed away with a single midrange jumper, a shot Jaylen had been automatic with all season long. He's had a handful of massive shots in his basketball career, but I have to agree nothing tops that shot (so far).
For all that talk about how Jaylen Brown "isn't marketable", he seems to be pretty marketable to me. It's taken a long time for Jaylen to get the proper respect he has earned, and even if there are still some bozos out there like Steve Kerr and Grant Hill, it's pretty cool to see Jaylen in these settings.
Give the whole interview a watch if you have 20 minutes to kill today, you won't be disappointed