Story byTyler MaherSat, December 20, 2025 at 5:18 AM UTC·2 min readJaylen Brown’s first season with the Boston Celtics was also Isaiah Thomas’s last. The two only played one season together in 2016-17, when Thomas was the Celtics’ best player and Brown was a 20-year-old kid with something to prove. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA third overall draft pick, Brown showed some promise as a rookie but didn’t immediately become a star. He mostly played off the bench and averaged just 17 minutes per game. Thomas, on the other hand, was at the peak of his powers. He was an All-Star and an MVP candidate, carrying Boston to the playoffs as the team’s leading scorer. With Brown playing more of a complementary role that year, Thomas didn’t immediately peg him for superstardom.“I would be lying if I said I thought he would be where he is right now,” Thomas said while watching his former teammate and the Celtics beat the Miami Heat at TD Garden on Friday night.
