Chris Russo Names His List Of Players Better Than Jaylen Brown

The current Boston Celtics were built around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

And while Tatum’s status as the No. 1 guy in the franchise is undisputed and clear, Brown’s impending max contract has made him a subject of debate as of late.

Brown vastly underperformed in the Eastern Conference Finals, and he’s eligible to sign a five-year, supermax contract extension worth $295 million.

And with all talking heads debating whether he’s worthy of that much money, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo tried to make a point by making a list of every single NBA player that’s currently better than Brown.

.@MadDogUnleashed gave his list of players better than Jaylen Brown 👀@jj_redick and @stephenasmith had some words: pic.twitter.com/JqUv7FwVQK

— First Take (@FirstTake) May 31, 2023

Russo listed Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who he referred to as “the OKC kid” –, Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Ja Morant, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, and Kyrie Irving.

While there’s no doubt that his list has some elite talents in it, it’s hard to argue that Brown has played himself into star consideration.

He’s coming off an All-NBA season, and he’s been mostly solid for the Celtics, both in the regular season and the playoffs.

He might never achieve true superstar status, and one could argue that committing that much money into a second-tier player would be a mistake.

But maybe people are just being a prisoner of the moment and have forgotten how good Brown has been for the Celtics and how much he’s improved since he made it to the league.