Bob Cousy questions whether Jaylen Brown can lead Celtics to success without Jayson Tatum
"Can he carry the load by himself? I see a major rebuilding effort here."
Jaylen Brown will get his opportunity to shine as the Celtics’ lead star this upcoming season with Jayson Tatum likely set to miss the majority of the year due to his Achilles tear. However, one franchise icon isn’t sure Brown is up for the challenge.
Bob Cousy doesn’t believe that Brown will be able to lead Boston very far in the upcoming season.
“In my judgment, Jaylen is not quite at the superstar level that Tatum is at,” the legendary Celtics point guard told The Boston Globe‘s Dan Shaughnessy. “Can he carry the load by himself? I see a major rebuilding effort here. Jaylen certainly won’t bring them to the promised land . . . [Derrick] White’s a good player and he’ll produce and he’ll be consistent, but his game doesn’t lend itself to carrying a team.”
Cousy’s take that the Celtics will struggle without Tatum isn’t exactly earth-shattering, as the injured star has been named first-team All-NBA in the last four seasons. But his implication that Boston might struggle to make the postseason because Brown isn’t good enough might be viewed as a bit of a harsh assessment of the Celtics’ other top star.
Brown, who won Finals MVP in 2024, is a four-time All-Star and has turned into a perennial 20-plus-point-per-game scorer himself. The Celtics also weren’t bad without Tatum last year, going 8-2.
Of course, the Celtics posted that record when they had Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet on the roster. With all four players departing or appearing likely to leave this offseason, Boston’s depth has taken a blow, with the recently signed Chris Boucher appearing to be its starting center come opening night.
Brown is also rehabbing from an injury. He underwent surgery to repair a meniscus tear earlier in the offseason, but he’s expected to be ready for the start of the 2025-26 season.
Cousy, who turned 97 on Saturday, remains highly opinionated, especially about the Celtics. In his interview with Shaughnessy, Cousy believes Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla did a “good job” this past season. However, he questioned Mazzulla’s approach in their second-round loss to the Knicks, saying he had “no understanding of how the Celtics could collapse, especially against the [expletive] Knicks.”
“I like the three as a weapon, but not as the first [expletive] option,” Cousy said. “It’s always going to be there for you. It’s not something you have to create. You’re going to have it when you want it. So why eliminate the other options?
“I know we’re into analytics. I can’t fight with the computer, but I know what I experienced. And in my judgment, there are benefits to attacking the basket first. I’ll go to my grave disagreeing with Danny [Ainge] and Brad [Stevens] about this. Obviously the coaches they hire share that philosophy. So that’s what we’ve got.”
The Celtics set several NBA 3-point records in 2024-25, including 3-pointers made and attempted by a team in a single season. Even though their 3-point shot was a strength for much of the season, it came to bite the Celtics in their second-round loss to the Knicks. They shot 30 percent or worse from deep in three of their four losses, with their offense going cold for long stretches in their defeats in Games 1 and 2.
Now, the Celtics might need to get hot from deep in 2025-26 to help account for the 26.8 points per game (Tatum’s scoring average last season) that they’ll be without, along with making up for their other losses this offseason. As Boston might have a long year ahead, Cousy does feel some sympathy for one member of the organization.
“This poor new owner [Bill Chisholm] must be shell-shocked,” Cousy said. “The minute he signed on the dotted line, the poop started to hit the fan. Everything that could go wrong for that franchise pretty much did. I hope he’s not having buyer’s remorse. I think he’s snakebit.”
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