One of the primary storylines of the 2024 NBA Finals came from the mouth of Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who proclaimed Jaylen Brown to be the Boston Celtics' best player after Game 1. The comment was immediately labeled, by both media and Celtics players, as a rather transparent attempt by Kidd to stir up drama in the opposing locker room.
According to the man himself, however, there was no intention of playing "mind games," as it was most commonly called. Kidd told Sam Amick of The Athletic that there was no gamesmanship at play. In fact, the observation was more that Brown was Boston's best performer in the Eastern Conference playoffs, which Kidd felt was validated by Jrue Holiday appearing to agree.
"It wasn’t mind games,” Kidd told Amick. “But for whatever reason, everybody took it that way. Everybody was speculating, and no one really asked me that.
“My whole thing was that, watching the Eastern Conference (playoffs), like, he has been (the Celtics’ best player). No one ever said I was wrong. Even their player said I wasn’t lying.”
Holiday said after Game 2 that the comments Kidd references were "taken out of context" and made it very clear he thinks both Brown and Jayson Tatum are superstars of the highest order.
Regardless of his intention, Kidd's comments did not appear to have much impact on the Celtics in Game 2. Boston won, 105-98, on the combined strength of Tatum's 18 points and 12 assists and Brown's 21 points, seven assists, and three steals.
The Mavs will try to turn the series around on Wednesday night in Game 3.
LIAM MCKEONE
Liam McKeone is a Senior Writer for the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. In addition to his role as a writer, he collaborates with other teams across Minute Media to help define his team’s content strategy. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in 2024, Liam worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, Liam is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books, and video games. Liam has been a member of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA) since 2020.
Follow liam_mckeone
