The Boston Celtics have turned the supposed gap year into a battle for the Eastern Conference title. Surely, forward Jaylen Brown should be getting the credit for the turnaround. After all, he is doing it without his teammate Jayson Tatum. But when that recognition didn’t arrive, Celtics legend Paul Pierce was the one standing up for Brown.

“And can we put Jalen Brown in the MVp Talk this is just ridiculous how did he not get POTM More Celtic hate but we use to it 🤔.” In his tweet, the former NBA champion and 10x All-Star said after the recent Player of the Month snub for Brown.

It’s even more interesting because Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has been named the NBA Coach of the Month (East) after a 9-3 record in December.

Jaylen Brown was among the runners-up, with New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson scooping the award in the East. In 10 games played in December, Brown averaged 31.7 points (1st in NBA), 6.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 53.8% from the field and 42.6% from three-point range.

In those 10 games, the Celtics were 7-3. Naturally, even the 4x All-Star had issues with him being snubbed and dropped a three-letter tweet.

A simple “Smh” from the 29-year-old garnered over 2.3 million views within a few hours. However, the only probable factor that hurt his chances was that Brunson played in four additional regular-season games and helped the Knicks secure the NBA Cup.

Those factors likely contributed to his winning the award, despite his slightly lower overall production compared to Brown. However, let’s not overlook the month when Jaylen Brown made history.

He was the only East player to average 30/6/5 and scored 30+ points in 9 of his 10 games. Because of this run, he was named Player of the Week home the honors for Week 10. Paul Pierce had another reason why he thinks that Jaylen Brown is not part of the MVP conversations.

“Everybody hates the Celtics,” Pierce said on why Brown isn’t in the MVP conversation. “No, seriously, why isn’t he? Nobody had the Celtics being in the third seed with no Tatum. The guy is putting up 30 (points) consistently. Everybody is talking about Cade; they (the Pistons) are No. 1, I get it. Everybody is talking about Wemby, I get it. But this guy has to get some type of recognition. This guy is a 30-point walking bucket.”

When Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in last year’s playoffs, it dropped Boston from an Eastern Conference favorite to a team that most thought would be in the play-in discussion, at best.

Even earlier this year, they began 5-7, which only fueled the gap year discussions. But they’ve gone 15-5 since then to jump all the way to third in the conference standings.

Jaylen Brown’s historic run was not enough

In December, the 2024 Finals MVP scored 30 points for the ninth consecutive game, tying Larry Bird’s record for the most consecutive 30-point games in Boston Celtics history. Against the Trail Blazers, he dropped 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists on 14 of 23 from the field for his 19th 30-point game of the season. Only reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26) has more.

It’s not a new feeling for Jaylen Brown to get snubbed. The most obvious being his omission from the 2024 Team USA’s Olympic roster. That’s why on his recent live stream, JB had a defiant response.

“I’ve been embracing the villain this season. There was a lot of people waiting for me to fall on my face this season… they had the tweets loaded, ready for me to fail, (they) still waiting on it. And I’m just gonna tell them, keep waiting.”

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With Jayson Tatum sidelined indefinitely due to a torn Achilles tendon, Brown has taken on the lead role for the Celtics and is putting together the best season of his career: 29.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists on 48/35.9/73.1 shooting splits.

He’s sixth in the league in scoring, averaging career highs in scoring, assists, and field-goal percentage, and in 31 games, he’s led the Celtics in scoring 25 times.