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Celtics legend Paul Pierce believes Jaylen Brown should have been included on the All-NBA First Team instead of Luka Doncic

The Boston Celtics have been involved in quite a bit of drama since they were bounced from the 2026 NBA Playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers, and most of it has involved superstar forward Jaylen Brown. Thanks to a slew of trade rumors and controversial comments from Brown, he has been at the center of attention over the past few weeks.

On Sunday, Brown found himself in the news for a good reason, as he earned a spot on the All-NBA Second Team. Even then, though, folks were upset that Brown did not make the All-NBA First Team after he carried Boston through the 2025-26 campaign without Jayson Tatum. That group includes Celtics legend Paul Pierce, who believes that Luka Doncic should not have made the cut over Brown.

Paul Pierce Believes Jaylen Brown Should Be on the All-NBA First Team

Boston was expected to struggle this season, thanks in large part to the fact that Tatum was going to miss the majority of the year recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Instead, the team rallied around Brown, who turned in the best year of his career (28.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 5.1 APG, 47.7 FG%) to help keep the team afloat long enough for Tatum to return.

The C’s looked to be in control of their first-round series against the Sixers, but they threw away a 3-1 lead and ended up losing in seven games. It was a crushing result, even when considering the lowered expectations the team faced entering the year. And now that Brown has proven himself to be capable of leading a team on his own, questions about his fit alongside Tatum have begun to pop up again.

For much of the year, Brown was considered a borderline MVP candidate, but he still got snubbed from the All-NBA First Team. Pierce doesn’t think that should have been the case, as he claimed that the help Doncic got from teammates like LeBron James and Austin Reaves made his life easier, whereas Brown did not benefit from having much help around him.

“If I had to take one person off, maybe Luka,” Pierce said on “No Fouls Given.” “He missed some games, but he had more to work with, too. Think about it, he had LeBron all year. You got Reaves most of the year. Jaylen Brown, he did the most with the least out of all these guys, and maybe Cade Cunningham, but Jaylen Brown didn’t have a second All-Star. A lot of these guys did.”

Celtics, Jaylen Brown Face Important Offseason

GettyJaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics reacts during an NBA game.

Getting snubbed is nothing new for Brown, but at this point, it seems like he and the C’s have bigger fish to fry. Boston needs to figure out whether it wants to move forward with Brown and Tatum as its superstar duo, because if it doesn’t, it needs a plan for breaking them up. Trading Brown is the most likely path forward if that’s the route the team wants to pursue, but pulling off that sort of blockbuster is going to be easier said than done.

At some point this offseason, Brown’s future will come into focus, largely because he’s eligible for a new contract extension. If either side doesn’t want to commit to the other, that deal won’t get finalized. There is still a lot of time for the Celtics and Brown to figure things out, but until then, his future will remain one of the biggest talking points of the offseason.