We now have to start wondering why the Boston Celtics figure it makes sense to continue giving LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers bulletin board material.
One day after Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas indicated that he wasn’t afraid of the Cavaliers, rookie wing Jaylen Brown took on James specifically.
Jaylen Brown is NOT afraid of LeBron James. Hear the full interview on Celtics Pregame Live at 7:30 on @CSNNE #CelticsTalk pic.twitter.com/U5TgwktZe4
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 19, 2017
“(LeBron James) is just a guy, Brown said. “There’s bigger threats in my neighborhood than LeBron James.”
For the purpose of full disclosure, Brown is probably right in assuming there are bigger threats in Marietta, Georgia, where he grew up. But that’s not the overall point here.
Cleveland humiliated Boston on its home court in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday. The game ended with Cleveland on the winning side of the ledger, 117-104. But the Cavaliers held a 20-plus point lead throughout a vast majority of the game.
For his part, James put up 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists en route to helping the Cavaliers to their ninth consecutive win to open the postseason. James himself was seen absolutely toying with the Celtics throughout the game.
Brown added some nice minutes for Boston. The former No. 3 overall pick put up 10 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Even then, we can be sure that James took note of these comments. If nothing else, he’ll surely seek the rookie out at some point in the game. That will be fun to watch, especially now that James feels better heading into Game 2 than he did for the series opener.