Sorry, Jaylen Brown; Celtics Fan Survey Has Surprise Second-Favorite Player
With longtime fan-favorite Marcus Smart traded this offseason, many Green Teamers have had to find a new favorite player on the Boston Celtics.
And while the on-court talent of Jayson Tatum caused some Celtics fans to choose him as a replacement for Smart, others have went in a different directions — maybe a more surprising direction.
The Athletic’s Jay King and Jared Weiss on Monday published their annual fan survey ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. It represented 1,439 Celtics fans, as those supporters shared their opinions on an array of topics.
In asking fans who their favorite player was, though, Tatum finished first in a landslide while Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams and Al Horford rounded out the top five.
Check out the breakdown in voting here:
Jayson Tatum: 41.1%
Derrick White: 19.3%
Jaylen Brown: 17.5%
Robert Williams: 9.1%
Al Horford: 7.6%
Given Brown’s success in recent years, and the fact he signed a long-term contract this offseason, some might be surprised to hear others favor White. White, however, also had a terrific season and was responsible for arguably the best moment with his Game 6 put-back against the Miami Heat.
Weiss shared Brown was the top choice in the category last year and noted how Smart earned 21% of the vote.
This time around, Tatum also was responsible for 54% of the vote pertaining to the “most indispensable person in Celtics nation.”