Nearly four years have passed. Jaylen Brown has a championship ring of his own now, earned in 2024 when the Boston Celtics finally broke through and beat the Dallas Mavericks. He has a Finals MVP trophy. He has the validation that comes with being the best player on the floor when it mattered most.
And yet, the 2022 NBA Finals still linger. The memory of what Stephen Curry did to the Celtics—to him—remains fresh. The frustration is still there, bubbling just beneath the surface.
This week, on a livestream, Brown was asked a simple question: why did the Celtics lose the 2022 Finals?
His answer was even simpler.
“We was in a drop coverage on Steph Curry,” Brown said. “We should have never been in drop coverage.”
That’s it. That’s the explanation. One defensive scheme. One fatal mistake. And one player who made the Celtics pay for it over and over again.
For Brown, the wound has not healed. It may never fully heal. Because even after winning his own championship, even after earning his own Finals MVP, he knows that the 2022 title was there for the taking—and Curry took it from him.
The Scheme: Why Drop Coverage Was a Disaster
Let’s break down what Brown is talking about.
Drop coverage is a defensive strategy where the big man sags back toward the paint, giving up mid-range jumpers to protect against drives and lobs. Against most point guards, it’s a reasonable approach. You force them to beat you from the outside, and you live with the results.
Against Stephen Curry, it’s suicide.
Curry is the greatest shooter in NBA history. Giving him any extra space—even a fraction of a second—is an invitation to watch the ball sail through the net. In drop coverage, the defender goes under screens, the big man retreats, and Curry gets exactly what he wants: a clean look from three.
In the 2022 Finals, Curry made the Celtics pay. He averaged 31.2 points per game. He shot 43.7% from three-point range. He was named Finals MVP for the first time in his career, silencing the one criticism that had followed him through three championships.
The Warriors trailed 2-1 in that series. They were on the road in Game 4, facing a potential 3-1 deficit. Then Curry scored 43 points—one of the greatest Finals performances of all time—and swung the momentum. Golden State never looked back.
Brown and the Celtics watched it happen. And nearly four years later, he still can’t understand why they didn’t adjust.
The Respect: Brown Has Always Acknowledged Curry’s Greatness
To be clear, Brown’s comments are not sour grapes. He has consistently praised Curry as one of the greatest players of all time.
On a separate livestream in December, Brown acknowledged that Curry “took one of my rings.” He carries the frustration, but he also carries the respect.
Brown has called Curry the greatest point guard of all time. That’s not hyperbole. That’s a player who went head-to-head with Curry on the biggest stage and came away awed by what he saw.
The respect is mutual. Curry has praised Brown’s game, his two-way ability, his growth as a player. But respect doesn’t erase the sting of defeat. And for Brown, the 2022 Finals will always be the one that got away.
The Legacy: What 2022 Meant for Curry
The 2022 Finals were a turning point in Curry’s career—not because he needed to prove anything, but because the narrative finally caught up to reality.
For years, critics pointed to Curry’s lack of a Finals MVP as a flaw in his resume. He had three championships, but no individual hardware. The argument was always there, lurking in the background.
Then Curry put up 43 points in Game 4, willed the Warriors to a comeback, and claimed the trophy that had eluded him. The criticism died instantly.
Now, at 38 years old, Curry is still playing. He’s still hitting threes. He’s still making defenders look foolish. The Warriors are 37-42, locked into the No. 10 seed, and headed for the play-in tournament. Curry just returned from a 27-game absence, scoring 29 points against the Rockets and 17 against the Kings.
The body is older. The team is flawed. But the shooter is still the shooter.
The Play-In: One More Chance to Add to the Legend
The Warriors are not contenders this season. That’s the reality. They have been decimated by injuries, and their record reflects that. But they have Stephen Curry, and as long as they have him, they have a puncher’s chance.
The play-in tournament is chaos. It’s single-elimination basketball, where anything can happen. And if Curry gets hot—if he catches fire for two games—the Warriors could find themselves in the playoffs.
It’s a long shot. But long shots are exactly what Curry has been beating his entire career.
The Verdict: A Wound That Won’t Close
Jaylen Brown has a championship. He has a Finals MVP. He has everything a player could want.
But the 2022 Finals still haunt him. He still thinks about the drop coverage. He still wonders what might have been if the Celtics had adjusted.
That’s the mark Stephen Curry leaves on his opponents. Not just the losses, but the lingering sense of helplessness. The feeling that no matter what you do, no matter how you scheme, he will find a way to beat you.
Brown knows it. The Celtics know it. The entire league knows it.
Nearly four years later, one of the best players in the Eastern Conference is still identifying the exact reason Curry beat him. That says everything about the mark Curry left.
The Warriors are fighting for their playoff lives. Curry is 38. The end is coming, sooner rather than later.
But the legend? That’s already secure. And Jaylen Brown’s comments are just the latest reminder.