A new class of Hall of Famers was announced this weekend, headlined by Vince Carter and also including Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. But it’s possible that someday we could look back on this game and say there were two Hall of Famers on the court for this particular game.
That's because Jaylen Brown is starting to build his case. On a night when Billups answered questions about getting into the Hall, Brown took a step closer to someday doing the same by scoring his 10,000th point.
Scoring 10,000 career points is no joke, especially getting there at 27 years old. That gives him a chance to get to 20,000, something only 51 players have done as of right now, and only a few more will do over the next few years (Giannis Antetokounmpo could do it next season. Paul George, Anthony Davis, and maybe Kyrie Irving could do it two seasons from now).
Brown will pass 1,600 points this season, a drop from the 1,784 he scored last season for obvious reasons. If he scores 1,600 a year for four more seasons, he’ll be somewhere around 16,500 at 31 years old. That leaves him 3,500 shy. He’d only have to average 875 points per season over four more years to get to 20,000. If he plays 60 games a season, he’d only need to average 14.6 points per game over those four years to get there.
It won’t be easy, but it’s certainly possible. And if he can win a championship or two along the way while adding a few All-Star teams and All-NBA nods to his resume, he’ll end up in the Hall of Fame.
Billups scored 15,802 points, which Brown should easily pass. He has a title, a Finals MVP, five All-Star appearances, three All-NBA selections, and two All-Defensive selections. Brown can match most of those individual accolades over time. He has the drive and determination to get there, which we know because it’s what got him to this point in the first place.
“(It means) a lot, just because of the type of guy that he is, the hard work he puts in, and really the growth that he’s shown this year working to become a complete player on both ends of the floor,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I know he’s happy about that, but even when he achieves those things, he’s never satisfied. But it’s cool to be able to coach guys who get those types of milestones, and to be a part of that. He deserves that because of the hard work he puts in.”
The individual milestones must also include team success. The Celtics have won a lot over Brown's career, and they're winning even more this season. That matters. Being a star player on a team that's always good is important, even though we all know that the ultimate team success, a championship, has to be part of the equation.
“Any time that you can win at a high level, you don’t take that for granted,” Brown said. “These are the most regular season wins that I’ve had in my career, so that’s awesome and it’s just been great from top to bottom. I’m looking forward to carrying it over to the playoffs, but you still don’t want to skip over how much work it takes to win 62 games and still counting in a season. Same thing scoring 10,000 points; it’s a lot of hard work and effort over the years and accumulating. Just want to take some of these moments to appreciate it, and then get back to work.”
I’m happy for Brown to be getting his moment. He got a great ovation from the crowd when the milestone was announced. As I’ve said before, it’s important to take a moment along the way to stop and appreciate what you’ve accomplished so far. As long as that fuels motivation to keep succeeding, then it’s fine to stop for a second to enjoy the view.
“It's been a great journey, even though the journey is still going, just take the moments out to just appreciate all the work, the hard work, the effort that has gone into even getting to this point,” He said “It's been ups, it’s been downs, things haven't gone my way, things have, and you know, here we are. So I'm incredibly grateful and I'm looking forward to the future.”
I have no shame in admitting that I didn't expect Brown to become this kind of player. I thought he might become a specialist. A few years ago, I thought he could become the most deadly three-and-D guy in the league, and I thought that was a compliment to him. But he didn't want to just settle for that. And to his credit, he became much more.
Brown has been doubted for a long time. It's amazing that I can even make a legitimate long-term case for a potential Hall of Fame bid at all. It's a testament to the work he's done to get himself to this point.
“It speaks for itself. Just coming from my background, single-parent household, just my family, being able to have an opportunity to just change things. When you look back on everything, all I can say is I'm incredibly grateful to be in this position. And it's been a lot of hard work and effort, but I'm extremely blessed at the same time. So I don’t take that for granted and I'm looking forward to just continuing to grow, continue to improve, and maximize my potential.”
Brown can spend the next week adding to his point total and getting ready for the most important part of building a potential Hall of Fame resume: winning a championship. He’ll need at least one to make a convincing case. This is his best chance to get it.
There are still a lot of boxes for him to check to make his case someday. But the path is there for him, and it starts with winning a championship this season.