If you’ve been watching the past few Celtics games and found yourself wondering “what the f—k is Jaylen Brown doing out there? Well, you’re not alone.
The All-Star forward has been dealing with pain and discomfort in his right knee from a bone bruise. But rather than rest, Brown is “toughing it out” deciding to play through the injury, even though there’s no rational, earthly reason why. The games are meaningless in the standings, and have been for a while.
Brown has denied that reaching the 65 game threshold to be eligible for postseason awards has factored into his decision to play hurt. He also has said that rest “might not help” him get better.
Well, if something might not help, simple logic dictates that it also might.
No one knows for sure whether Brown is doing more harm than good by playing, or if there’s any benefit to it, but even his teammates are starting to wonder aloud.
“He’s a tough dude. He’s a tough dude,” said teammate Kristaps Porzingis. “He always preaches his warrior mindset, and he lives by it, but to what extent do we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he’s going to be ready for the most important moments.”
Wow.
Porzingis is always candid and refreshingly honest in interviews. He is also an extremely supportive teammate and Brown’s closest friend on the Celtics.
But right now Porzingis is all of us. Begging, pleading with Brown to stop playing, get some rest and be as healthy as possible heading into the playoffs, now less than 2 weeks away.
“I think we just have to encourage him to make sure he does everything he needs to prepare, to get it healthy, and to prepare for what’s going to come,” Porzingis added. “And I think he’s a smart guy. So he will. It just shows his heart and how bad he wants to be out there, even for games that don’t mean super much to us right now.”
Kristaps Porzingis asked about Jaylen Brown playing through his knee injury:
"He's a tough dude. He always preaches his warrior mindset. He lives by it. But to what extent we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he's going to be ready for the most… pic.twitter.com/tZaX3ChnPp
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 9, 2025
On Tuesday night Brown played 21 minutes and change in a thrilling 119-117 overtime victory over the Knicks. He was yanked late in the 3rd quarter never to be seen again. When he was in the game, Brown lacked any explosiveness, was a traffic cone on defense and struggled to get clean looks. He finished with six points on two of eight shooting.
Yuck.
OG SHUTS DOWN JAYLEN BROWN
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/tOuL0BE10i
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 9, 2025
“We just got what we needed to get out of him as he continues to push himself and test himself,” Joe Mazzulla said when asked why Brown was pulled from the game and never returned. “We’ve still got games left, so it was just we got what we needed to get, what we needed to see, and we just continue to move forward.”
Not sure what the Celtics needed to get out of Brown or if they got it. But if Brown was truly pushing or testing himself, he failed. Once again begging the question, what is he doing out there?
The obvious answer is and has always been getting to 65 games. Entering Tuesday night, Brown had to play in three of the C’s final four games to be eligible and needed to log at least 20 minutes in one of the games and a minimum of 15 in the other two.
He played 22 minutes on Tuesday. If he plays around 15 minutes in two of the final three games left on the slate, well then guess what?
We all got played.
It’s understandable for an athlete to want to play in meaningless games late in the season to try and rack up awards or contract incentives.
Provided they are healthy. Brown, clearly is not.
Whether he’s making it worse, no one seems to know? Anyone with eyes and access to google can reasonably conclude that rest and recovery seems more prudent than playing through pain at a time when there’s simply no need.
“It’s tough,” said wingman Jayson Tatum. “We work really hard on our craft and try to prepare ourselves to be at our best. It’s tough mentally when you are out there and you maybe can’t do what you normally do. It’s a mental hurdle that you need to fight. That’s why it’s a team sport. You’ve got teammates that got your back, cover for you, and help you get through things.”
And therein lies the grim reality. We are past the point of no return. This injury is here to stay.
The Jaylen Brown who was named conference and NBA Finals MVP last season won’t be appearing in this year’s NBA playoffs. In his place will be the guy we all saw cosplaying with a #7 Celtics jersey gimping around the Madison Square Garden floor last night.
Were this the playoffs or the NBA Finals, what Brown is doing right now would be considered heroic. But right now, it’s at best foolish and at worst, selfish.
Title runs are hardly ever clean. And overcoming injuries can be part of the journey and is often how heroes are born.
Kristaps Porzingis foot injury last season. Curt Schilling’s bloody sock in 2004.
But it’s also how potential championship seasons can be derailed.
Larry Bird’s broken hand in 85. Kevin McHale’s broken foot in 87. Tom Brady’s ankle in 2007 and Gronk’s in 2011. Kevin Garnett’s knee in 2009. Kendrick Perkins missing game 7 of the Finals in 2010. Patrice Bergeron’s entire body in 2013 and his back in 2023. Jayson Tatum rolling his ankle against the Heat in 2023.
When those things happen, fans look back and wonder ‘what if.’
But if the Celtics stumble in their quest for Banner 19 this year because of a reduced and hobbled Jaylen Brown fans will ask a different question.
Why?
Did this need to be this way? If Brown is truly playing right now just to make himself eligible for individual honors, he may get his awards. But in doing so he could be putting the Celtics title hopes at risk and potentially tarnish his legacy in Boston forever.
