Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has guarded the modern game’s greatest wing players, but there’s one guy Brown pointed to as more challenging than the rest.

It’s not at all who you expect, either.

Appearing on a live stream with streamer PlaqueBoyMax on Friday, Brown was asked about the hardest player he’s had to guard.

Brown, as an NBA rookie, guarded prime LeBron James while hilariously telling the media that there were “bigger threats” than James in the Atlanta neighborhood where Brown hails from.

But would Brown say the same about former NBA wing Marco Belinelli? No, that is not a typo.

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During the aforementioned stream, Brown said Belinelli was the hardest player he’s had to guard.

“Marco Belinelli used to light me up,” Brown said. “He just used to never stop moving. And I used to have to chase him around (in) the system we had. I used to chase Marco Belinelli around all these different screens. And like, he’s not even getting the ball … (but) you never know when he’s about to take off full speed, and start running and catch the ball.”

Belinelli last played in the NBA in 2020 for the San Antonio Spurs, possibly much to Brown’s delight. Belinelli has played with Italian club Virtus Bologna since then.

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Brown has been known as one of the most naturally gifted defenders in the world since entering the NBA. Many people forget that he finished No. 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting in just his second season at age 21.

As Brown has improved as an offensive player through the years and emerged as a superstar, his defensive effort hasn’t remained elite on a night-to-night basis as it was during his first couple of seasons. This isn’t necessarily a knock on Brown, but rather an indication that his role on the team has changed as he’s become a top offensive option. 

There’s also the fact that Brown has shown an ability to “flip the switch” defensively during the postseason and return to looking like one of the game’s most menacing on-ball defenders — Brown’s 2024 NBA Finals performance guarding Luka Dončić being the most shining example.

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With Brown expected to take on the heaviest offensive load of his career in 2025-26, don’t expect him to supply the fiercest defense during the regular season. But as long as Belinelli isn’t planning an NBA comeback, there still aren’t any players in the league that Brown fears when they’re coming at him.