Brown proved in season 2 he could be a #1 or #2 offensive option.
Brown proved in seasons 2 and 3 that he is a great two way wing that can play both the SG and SF position.
Brown proved last year he can take on the role of bench player/sixth man and succeed there.
Brown proved the last two seasons he is an even better playoff performer than he is a regular season performer.
And now, this summer, for team USA, Jaylen proved he can guard the PF and C positions very well against high quality players.
And after proving all that, Jaylen is going to get less minutes and be worth less money because....why exactly? Aren't players that prove all that type of stuff players you keep and pay a lot of money to?
I don't think one playoff run proves anything. To prove he can be a #1 or #2 option, Brown needs to do it over a much longer time frame. He has yet to do that frankly. IMO, Brown is an average #3 at best and a #5 at worst.
Well, it wasn't really just "one playoff run".
After Kyrie went down in mid-March of 2018, both Jaylen and Jayson rose to that level through the rest of that regular season and just continued on through the playoffs. In fact, Jaylen actually had elevated his scoring even before Kyrie went down. His last 6 games before Kyrie was lost included to 20+ games and only one that wasn't in double figures. After Kyrie was lost, Jaylen scored between 19 and 32 points in 5 of 9 games. He averaged 21.5 points per 36 during that span. Then in the playoffs he averaged 20.5 points per 36 across another 18 games. That's a 27 game stretch of averaging over 20+ points per 36.
And then he again elevated his game in these last playoffs. He didn't get as high of USG (just 16.4 % compared to 24.6% the prior season) but he still managed to post a very efficient 16.4 points per 36.
I think that, other than the very start of this last season, when he was playing with an injured hand, Jaylen has pretty much always risen to the challenge of higher usage and higher stakes.
People just don't like him, it is what it is. He had one bad game 7 and everything else doesn't matter, I guess. He's also a year and a half older than Tatum, he's ancient. He's 23 (soon) and already headed for retirement, he is what he is. It's crazy how when a person is liked, they have unlimited time to grow.
Two things. Even a half a season and a playoff run is enough. And of course, Brown wasn't really a star in the half season either.
And yes, the key point is, when a player is liked, he'll get the benefit of the doubt. And generally speaking, likability is based on how good you think they can be (broadly speaking) and how good they have been. That's the way it should work.