Jaylen Brown’s outstanding defense of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic helped him win the MVP award for the Finals. He was instrumental in the Boston Celtics’ five-game rout of the Dallas Mavericks thanks to his outstanding all-around performance.
Brown made an enlightening comparison on protecting the dynamic duo of Doncic and Irving for the Mavericks when he appeared on the popular show Hot Ones with Sean Evans. He compared it to enjoying music.
Jaylen Brown comparing music and defense
People’s playing has a cadence and a beat. Some males have a distinct beat, cadence, and flair when they play. The Boston Celtics great stated, “If you know their style, you can time what they’re going to do next because you know their rhythm and the BPM they play at.”
Luka Doncic possesses a distinct beat. It is difficult to time because it is nearly so sluggish. Kyrie has a very distinct rhythm as well. It’s quite difficult to time his cadences and movements. Brown went on, “He has a lot of counters, can shoot with both hands, pivot off both feet, and drive in both ways, which makes his rhythm much harder to detect.
Though it’s an unusual way to describe defense, it becomes clear why Dallas’ attack is so hard to stop. In order to contain players as unique as Doncic and Irving without drawing fouls, defense demands not just skill but also a tremendous deal of patience and foresight.
Some players only move to the right, some to the left, while some players use two different moves. Therefore, I see basketball as music—poetry—in motion. Each person is performing their own song. Everyone uses various artists’ samples. You must learn to read their rhythm and recognize when their beat is about to decrease if you hope to stop them.