After Jayson Tatum suffered an Achilles injury in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the door opened for Jaylen Brown to take on an even bigger role this season with the Celtics.
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Brown has risen to the occasion so far this season, having a career year that has been recognized in the latest NBA.com MVP rankings.
Brown has been in the mix as an honorable mention on the weekly ladder, but took a big jump in this week’s updated edition, after putting in some impressive performances recently.
How high did Jaylen Brown rise on the latest MVP ladder?
After taking seventh place in the MVP standings last week, Brown moved up to third place.
He is behind Nikola Jokic (1st) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2nd).
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In the 2025-26 NBA season, Brown is averaging 29.7 points (career high), 6.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists (career high), 11.0 field goals (leads the NBA), 50.1% field goals (career high), and 37.2% three-point shooting.
The Celtics are 21-13 in games Brown has played in this season.
The Celtics have won 13 of their last 17 games and enter Friday as the third seed in the East with a 23-13 record. They are just 0.5 games behind the Knicks for second place and 4.5 games behind the Pistons for first place.
Brown averages 31.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists in his last 18 games played.