Hall of Famer trashes Jaylen Brown and his massive contract
In late July, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown signed the richest contract in NBA history, a five-year, $304 million supermax extension that stunned Hall of Famer Rick Barry.
"That's just hard for me to believe," Barry recently told NBA personality Joy De'Angela in an interview.
During Barry's 14-year pro career in the ABA and NBA, the 12-time All-Star averaged 24.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists. Barry's pro basketball earnings fell far short of what Brown will earn in one season.
"His average in the playoffs for them is 18.5 points a game," Barry, now 79, said of Brown. "18.5 points per game and he's going to make $69 million in the last year of his contract. 18.5 points is nothing. Seriously."
Actually, Brown has averaged 18.2 points in the playoffs.
Brown's ball-handling is an Achilles' heel. As a rookie, he averaged 0.9 turnovers per game. That number has steadily risen each season of his career, peaking last season at 2.9 during the 2022-23 regular season. In the playoffs this past season, that number surged to 3.3
Arguably, he might have the weakest left hand among any player with a supermax contract.
"He's a nice player, but he's really got to improve his game," Barry said of Brown. "He turns the ball over too much, tries to force things and so is his teammate, [Jayson] Tatum. That's one of the reasons they lost to the [Golden State] Warriors two seasons ago [in the NBA Finals.]"
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