But on that Sunday he was bested, and he accepted the defeat and was determined to use it as fuel, just like any life setback.
"You have got to take it with humility," he told the Globe. "I don't think it was our best game. We could have been a lot more intentional on both sides of the ball. It's the season. It's a journey. We've heard that before. But moments where you show up and you don't think it's going to go the way you expect it to go, you just got to analyze and see why and then it's a good opportunity to make changes."
It's safe to assume that Brown hears his critics, digests the criticism, and attempts to flourish under adverse circumstances. He has still never forgotten the boos and "who's that's" when majority owner Wyc Grousbeck announced his selection on draft night in 2016.
He endured those years when the Celtics came up short in the postseason, especially the NBA Finals defeat in 2022 and Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals a year later. After finally reaching the top last June, the Celtics are vying to repeat, which hasn't been done in seven years. There have been pitfalls so far, injuries, minor slumps, disappointing home losses.
When asked if he thrives under detrimental circumstances, Brown, a three-time All-Star, nodded his head quickly.
"That might be fair to say," he said. "[Adversity] is inevitable. Obviously you don't want adversity for no reason. You don't want to seek it when you can make it easier if you can. But it's inevitable in life and it's inevitable in the basketball season that things are going to look different. Things might be a little harder than you expect it to be in a game. Things might be harder than you expect it to be in life.
"You can spend the time complaining, wondering why it's harder or you can just focus and gear up on how to respond. I'd rather choose rather than complain and focus my attention on how I would be better, how I can make the people better around me."
Brown is eagerly anticipating the release of his signature shoe, 741, that's produced with his own money and input on the style, color, and even the price. Brown's shoes are $70 for children and $200 for adults, and those prices are very intentional.
"It is extreme joy," he said of the February release. "I've said this before, you're getting it directly from the artist, like you're getting the music directly from the source. I've kind of developed everything. I've been hands-on from CFO of the company to the CEO of the company to the lead designer to making all the decisions and all the approvals. It's been a majority of my doing, not somebody else, not a team or somebody and they don't know anything about it. I took a lot of pride in that, so to be able to see kids, I wanted to make it affordable for kids.
"It's $70 for kids. I'm all about the youth. I'm all about the next generation. The adults? It may be a little more expensive but I think just understanding the journey of independence, the journey of you getting it directly from the source, directly from the artist, no in-between. I think there should be a respect in that. And then you're supporting creativity, you're supporting independence and you're supporting change. Somebody doing something a little bit different and creating a solution."
Brown said he's fully willing to fail or stumble at producing his own shoe so that those who come after him can succeed. He's been a shoe free agent for the past few years and wore various brands depending on his mood before deciding to develop his own sneaker. It's a bold endeavor, but not one that intimidates Brown.
"A lot of athletes have explained [going against the establishment] has been a problem for them," he said. "It's been fun. The first orders are starting to go out. People are starting to receive their first shoes now. We'll start launching the campaign and we've got some announcements to make in February and it's been a fun journey.
"I'm extremely grateful and I'm happy that I took this journey. I've learned so much and I can explain to whoever is doing it next. These are the right things to do, the wrong things to do, I can give them direct answers because I've been the one hands on myself. I look forward to that, to be able to share it with the next person who comes up with the idea that wants to start their own independence and do something creatively instead of following the yellow brick road. It will bring joy to me to be able to explain it to somebody else who is willing to take on that journey as well."
Trying to help the Celtics to another championship, working to develop an economic plan to bridge the wealth gap for underrepresented communities in Boston, and developing his own signature shoe could be viewed as overwhelming for the 28-year-old Brown. He's been asked to slow down, been told that he is taking too much on. Those suggestions are nonstarters.
"Have people came to be and said that? Yes. Do I feel like that? No," he said. "I feel obligated. People say I take things too serious or take life too serious but I look at it like people have sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position. Some people have sacrificed their lives. Some people have sacrificed their career and all types of things and I like to pay homage to people, the predecessors that came before.
"So to be in this position with these resources, this platform, I don't take it for granted. It might not be that serious to others but it's that serious to me, just by paying respect to those people who put their lives on the line, put their careers, their resources, their families on the line to stand for certain things, to have certain values or just to be who they were.
"I kind of feel the drum, that beat of that ancestral drum kind of playing, 'You are extremely blessed. You're extremely talented in a lot of different fields, just don't settle. Leave your imprint in the community and do as much as you possibly can.' And I feel obligated in that."
The Nuggets are not the team they were two years ago when Nikola Jokic and the crew sliced through the NBA en route to the franchise's first championship. They've lost some pieces, others haven't developed as quickly, but they still compete. After losing to the Celtics in a close game Tuesday without Jokic and Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets responded with an impressive 126-103 victory over the Clippers the next night.
"I think if you go back to last season, I think it might be 11-0 on the second night of back-to-backs," coach Michael Malone said. "I keep on saying the same thing when I'm asked this question, but I think when you win the second night of a back-to-back it speaks to toughness, mental toughness, physical toughness, a resiliency. Not to give in to the readily excuse of 'Oh we played Boston at 8:00 last night. We didn't have Nikola and Aaron. We played hard.' We never buy into that.
"You have to give our players all of the credit in the world because our starters set the tone, the guys on the bench came ready to play. As a micro goal in this league, you never want to lose two in a row. You really want to make sure you don't have extended losing streaks. That was a big game. You asked the question pregame: How important is this? We tied up the head-to-head, that's a Western Conference win, it's a win at our home. Our guys were outstanding. The defense was terrific. Obviously, Russ [Westbrook] had a great game, Jamal [Murray], you look at the whole starting lineup."
Westbrook has made a noticeable impact in his first season in Denver. At age 36, he's not putting up the eye-popping numbers of his Oklahoma City days but he went into the weekend averaging 12.6 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds in 27.1 minutes per game. He dropped 26 points with four 3-pointers against the Celtics, and he has improved from beyond the arc, turning himself into a respectable long-range shooter.
"It speaks to him just being a pro's pro, a vet, experienced," Malone said of Westbrook. "I don't know if you guys notice because Russ always plays hard as hell, but I think he plays a little bit harder against the Clippers. He manages a little bit more. He hates to lose. He's a guy who imposes his will on the game, he really does. It's incredible to watch the things that he does, the aggression, the attack mind-set -- [19 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds vs. the Clippers]. What he's doing as a 17-year vet is just incredible."
Westbrook, a Los Angeles native, has been playing with a heavy heart with the toll the fires have taken on his hometown.
"For me personally it's fine, family is safe," he said. "But, unfortunately, just people that I know, close friends and family have lost their homes and everything. The past couple of days I have just been praying so much, not just for the people I know, but for everyone. Being from LA, I've never seen anything like this before. Not being able to do nothing is really difficult.
"Just grateful for all of the first-responders, all of the firefighters, everyone who is helping or trying to help and contain. I'm not even sure what's happening right now, my wife just texted me about school being closed again . . . Hopefully we can get things in control. I know it's going to be a tough rebuild but LA is very strong, and we can stick together and make something happen."
Westbrook said the tragedy in Los Angeles has affected him, especially being 1,000 miles away in Denver.
"Yeah, you know what, it's tough," he said. "It's hard for me to sleep, to be honest. I was supposed to take a nap [Wednesday], it was hard for me to do that. Just because I care so much about the city of Los Angeles and just making sure family, friends. Just watching videos of things that's gone that used to be there, businesses, homes, everything. People put their lives, savings, whatever they may have into some of their properties and real estate, and it's all gone. There's nothing you can do about it. That hurts me personally. Not being able to do nothing is difficult for me to just sit and watch.
"I think the best thing I can do, obviously. this is my job, but try to go out and give people joy and inspiration by going out and playing the game as hard as I can. Making sure I do that, but making sure I find ways to help anyway I can."
Shifting back to basketball, playing against Westbrook at this stage of a career that could end in the Hall of Fame, was not lost on the Celtics.
"Love Russ to death," Jayson Tatum said. "I can't say enough good things about him, what he's meant to the game, the NBA. One of the best players to ever play. And how he's inspired so many kids. I was in high school watching Russ when he got to the league. To build a relationship with him, he's been the same competitor since my rookie year until he is now. You just cherish those moments where you play against a legend because it's something you'll always be able to remember."
The Celtics' Jrue Holiday was two years behind Westbrook in the Southern California basketball circles and the two have been clashing for years in the NBA and summer pickup games at UCLA.
"Man, he's a Hall of Famer, one of the best to ever do it," Holiday said. "Obviously a fellow Bruin and watching him from obviously when I was younger to now, him being a Hall of Famer, first ballot for sure.
"It's really cool, knowing he makes an impact on every team he goes to, not only on the court but off the court."