When six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA Team member Jayson Tatum went down with a devastating Achilles tendon tear in last season's playoffs, many quickly wrote the Boston Celtics off this season. After all, replicating Tatum's elite two-way production would be nearly impossible.
Additionally, it wasn't only Tatum that the Celtics lost; they also lost veterans Kristaps Porzingis , Jrue Holiday and Al Horford in the offseason, which means the team had a bare cupboard. However, the Celtics had one player who refused to let their ship sink: All-Star wingman Jaylen Brown .
As a matter of fact, Jaylen's play has been so impressive that popular analyst Kendrick Perkins believes he's the rightful Most Valuable Player this season, ahead of superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Cade Cunningham and Luka Doncic .
One look at the Celtics' roster, and few could be faulted for questioning their capacity to mount a serious playoff run. Outside of Brown, versatile guard Derrick White , and guards Payton Pritchard and Anfernee Simons , the Celtics have a bunch of no-name players. Yet despite the lack of star power, Brown has led this team to a 24-14 win-loss record and the third seed so far this season.
This achievement has been awe-inspiring, and Perkins asserted he should be the league MVP if the award were handed out today.
" Jaylen Brown number one right now. I'll tell you that much," Perk said on the "Road Trippin'" podcast. "Because he's doing more with less."
Instead of just mailing it in this season and waiting for Tatum to return to action, Brown has actually embraced the challenge of lifting the Celtics up on its feet. Losing a player of Tatum's caliber for an entire season can be absolutely crippling for a franchise, but Brown has given the Celtics' faithful hope, averaging 29.5 points on 49.5 percent shooting, 6.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
As much effort as Brown expends on offense to generate points for the Celtics, pundits are willing to give him a pass if he takes a few plays off on defense. However, Perk noted that he doesn't do that.
"He's the best two-way player in the game right now. They pulled up some numbers the other day on television. Defensively, when it came down to opponent field-goal percentage, it was Cason Wallace number one, Jaylen Brown was number two, and Wemby was like three or four," Perkins shared. "And on top of that, you giving 30."
Kendrick said that Jaylen's recent performance against the red-hot Kawhi Leonard was solid proof of his brilliance on both ends, as he helped hold the latter to only 22 points on 6-of-17 shooting and tallied 50 points of his own to rout the Los Angeles Clippers .
While many have Luka as the MVP when the regular season ends, Kendrick said that might not be the case, especially when voters factor in defense.
"The thing with Luka is, hey man, you got to slide them puppies defensively now. You ain't picking on SGA like that. You ain't picking on Jaylen Brown like that. Cade Cunningham, he sliding those puppies and defending at a high level," Perkins conveyed.
SGA and Cade have solid arguments for the MVP plum this season, as they have led their teams to the best records in their conferences. However, Perk's claim holds weight. With the underrated roster that Jaylen has right now and the position the Celtics are in, he's been nothing short of amazing on both ends of the floor and worthy of MVP consideration.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
