Jaylen Brown Admits That He Seriously Considered Leaving The Celtics Until Tracy McGrady Convinced Him To Stay

Fernando Medina. Getty Images.

If there's one thing I've always loved, it's a good NBA "what if". There's an endless supply when you sit down and think about it, and it's always fun to think about how NBA history may have changed should those "what ifs" actually happened. They can range from potential signings (what if Doc Rivers let Tim Duncan's family fly on their plane?), they can be about something that happened in a game (what if KD's toe wasn't on the line against the Bucks", the list goes on and on.

Well, one "what if" I am sure as shit never happened is "What if Jaylen Brown demanded a trade?" As it turns out, that was something Jaylen admitted was in consideration a few years ago, and if not for Tracy McGrady, everything that we've seen since may have never existed

This is easily the most open and honest we've ever heard Jaylen when it comes to all the trade rumor stuff right? When things were flying around left and right back in like 2019-2021, the idea of breaking up Tatum/Brown was unavoidable. Outside of Jalen Rose, ESPN wouldn't shut the fuck up about it. It was almost like they were trying to speak it into existence, which at the time was very, very annoying.

So to hear that something along those lines could have been a possibility if not for the wise words of Tracy McGrady, I pretty much owe TMac my life. As someone who never really wanted to buy into the idea that Jaylen could one day ask out, clearly things were way more real than I was choosing to believe at the time. TMac could have told Jaylen anything in those moments, but instead hammered home that the grass wasn't always greener and that it wasn't about the individual shit. What matters, is winning

Since that moment? We've seen Jaylen blossom into one of the best players in the league, even while remaining a Celtic. His All NBA season, his supermax season, his ECF and Finals MVPs cementing him as a Celtics legend forever

I now feel confident in saying none of that happens if TMac didn't give him that advice. For all we know, the Celts are still searching for their 18th banner. I think we're seeing this season that Jaylen Brown very clearly has the talent and skill to be a #1 option on any team in the NBA, and while some always seemed to ridicule Jaylen when he talked about sacrifice and doing what it takes to win, it's becoming clearer by the game that nothing he said was ever a lie. 

If anyone knows about that struggle and the decision to stay or leave, it's probably TMac. Who knows what could have been with those Raptors teams had he stayed, and while he had plenty of individual success with the Magic and Rockets while elevating his "star" status and whatnot, they never won. For Jaylen to truly take that to heart and put his personal desires aside for the sake of winning says a lot about who he is and how he approaches being an NBA player, and the beauty is that it's possible to have both! Since deciding to stay put, Jaylen has elevated his position as a star AND has won at an insane clip. The Jays proved that no, you don't have to break them up to reach the mountain top, and that on any given night, either player can carry the load that comes with being a #1 option. 

That's why I never really understood the whole civil war between Celtics fans when it came to the Jays. You know what's awesome? Having BOTH players on your favorite team. Maybe it's the evolution of the player stan movement you see online these days, who knows. But what I do know is you wait your entire life as a fan to have two franchise pieces as good as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and when they both buy in? That's how you become champions. That's how you become one of the most successful teams of the decade. 

To think that all might never have happened had TMac said 

"Yeah, go be your own guy and start fresh somewhere else"

sends a shiver down my spine. I don't even want to think of that reality, and thankfully, we didn't have to live it. 

So Tracy, from the bottom of my goddamn heart, thank you. I'm not sure if we can get you an honorary ring or something along those lines, but what I will say is the 2024 Celtics title does not happen without you. From everything you've done to help develop Jaylen's offensive arsenal to then also convincing him to stay in Boston, I am forever thankful. In today's NBA you never know how long players are going to stick around, and given the fact that even Paul Pierce was traded, you never know what might happen in the future.

But man, you want to talk about a "what if", I'm not sure as a Celts fan it gets bigger than this. Say he asks out, what happens next? Does that start the clock with Tatum if the Celts didn't continue to win? Does Brad make additional moves and really blow things up? Once you split up the Jays, anything and everything is on the table in my opinion.

Thankfully, Jaylen took TMacs advice and the rest is history. Call me biased if you want, but I very much prefer this version of NBA history.