ATLANTA — Jaylen Brown on Monday was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week by the NBA. But on a personal level, he received an even larger seal of approval when he ran into Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins.

“You’re representing home well,” ‘Nique said to Atlanta area native Brown.

“I’m trying to,” said the Celtic wing, who averaged 25.8 points on 55.8% shooting and pulled down 6.3 rebounds as the C’s went 3-0 in the span ending Sunday. “I’ve got big shoes to fill.”

“You there, brother,” said Wilkins. “Don’t even worry about that.”

Told that Brown made a strong case for the All-Star game, ‘Nique said, “You’re damn right. That boy’s playing his (butt) off.

“I’ve know this guy since he was a kid. I saw guys like Lou Williams and Derrick Favors and Jaylen grow up. I knew them as kids. I remember how big he was for a guy his age — and he was physical. He had size and he was athletic. He was big for his age.”

Wilkins is even more impressed by Brown now.

“He’s acted like a consummate professional,” he said. “There were times when he heard different things, like was he going to get traded or not, and he hung in there and he grew as a basketball player. He grew as a person. He’s always shown respect, and I love guys like that.”

Said Brad Stevens of Brown’s second Player of the Week honor this season: “I thought it was a no-brainer that he got it. I haven’t watched the whole rest of the league; that’s probably not fair. But he was awesome in all three games, and I thought that Miami game he set a tone with his defense, and then his offense followed suit. I thought he was good against Golden State, and then I thought same thing against Philly. His defense was excellent and then his offense followed suit. He’s a really good player. We’ve talked the whole time about those awards are wonderful, but they’re subjective, so you shouldn’t wrap your value or identity around those things. Those are nice to put into a bookshelf, but that’s about it.”

Kanter returns

The Celts got Enes Kanter back against the Hawks after five games out with a right hip contusion.

But Marcus Smart was on the shelf with a bruised thigh suffered in Saturday’s win over Philadelphia when he helped out low on defense and Joel Embiid spun into him.

Rob Williams, out since Dec. 6 with a left hip edema, appears to getting closer to a return.

“He had a scan on Friday and continued to look good,” said Stevens. “They’re going to continue to up his work, and then he’ll meet again with his specialist, I believe this week. I’m not sure when.”

Checking in on Turner

A meeting with the Hawks was another chance for Stevens and former Celtic Evan Turner to check in.

Stevens made a crack about Turner’s bench work in The Basketball Tournament, saying he “obviously complimented him on his coaching expertise this summer. He probably has laughed at my coaching enough over the last two years, so I enjoyed watching him struggle through that TBT and ultimately winning it.”

Told that Stevens was knocking him, albeit jokingly, Turner said, “Was he? Man I won the ‘ship. Brad’s made it to the Final Four a couple times, and even the championship (game). I won. These skills got us to the ‘ship and got us the big money. Actually one year when we lost, which is probably why we lost, I took a play from Brad, and it didn’t work. Nah, I’m just joking.

“Yeah, I did actually. It worked, but (David) Lighty missed the layup. But it actually worked, and I remember that. Obviously Brad is one of the coaches I always have great respect for. Even after certain games he hit me up with Carmen’s Crew in the TBT thing, and he would congratulate us on how we did. For sure he’s always tuned in. It was cool.”

Turner hadn’t gotten into a game since Dec. 28, but, with seven mates injured, was pressed into service here. On the final year of his contract, he’s clearly not in the Hawks’ plans.

“I don’t know,” said Stevens. “I mean, that’s a question for them. It’s not for me to answer. I think he did a great job for us, and I know he’s really well-liked everywhere he goes.”

Said Turner, “Right now obviously being in this position, being in this situation, it hasn’t been the best ideally. But I think everything just always balances itself out, you know? It’s a timing situation. Fit is everything. I think you’ve just really got to wade through the storm. You’ve really got to ride the storm out, and that’s just being an adult, just being a pro, that’s just life. I have faith it all balances itself out, and with the right situation, right opportunity, things will be a little better. That’s pretty much how I just view it.”