Jaylen Brown crouched into a ready stance, knowing he would need to defend himself after showing up one of the game’s greatest scorers.



Brown had just scored on Kevin Durant a few times then shot the superstar a look that said, “Yup, I’m here to challenge you.” But he knew Durant wouldn’t take kindly to the attitude. Sure enough, Durant called for the basketball to seek instant vengeance. He crossed over one way, then the next, clearing enough space to fire a deep 3-pointer.



“He shot it from like the volleyball line,” Brown recalls now.



The volleyball line? Clearly, this was no NBA court. In Washington, D.C., almost four years ago, Brown lined up against Durant for the first time. The moment stands out in his memory for many reasons. As a 17-year-old just beginning to separate himself from some of the other elite young basketball prospects, Brown had competed against pros like Lou Williams from time to time growing up...