Philadelphia 76ers' Jaylen Brown stands on the court during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Philadelphia 76ers’ Jaylen Brown stands on the court during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Jaylen Brown made his return to TD Garden on Saturday. But he’ll have to wait another few months to play his first game back on the parquet.
Brown, who was traded from Boston to Philadelphia this summer, ending a decade-long tenure with the Celtics, was held out of the teams’ preseason matchup along with a long list of his 76ers teammates.
Though he did not play, Brown spent roughly half an hour on the Garden court before tipoff. He completed a lengthy pregame workout, wearing a black tank top and black sweatpants with blue “SIXERS” lettering down the left leg. His former Celtics teammates, including Jayson Tatum, warmed up on the opposite end of the floor.
Once finished, Brown slipped away through a side tunnel, high-fiving a young Boston fan as he exited.
Jaylen Brown spent about half an hour working out pregame, then slipped away through a side tunnel.
He won’t play his first game back here until Jan. 21 at the earliest. pic.twitter.com/eS34VApgbk
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) October 10, 2026
The off night was Brown’s first of the preseason. He led his new team in scoring in each of the first two exhibition games, tallying 22 points against the New York Knicks on Monday and 18 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
Brown could face the Celtics as soon as next Friday, when the 76ers host Boston in the preseason finale for both squads. The teams’ first regular-season matchup is Nov. 10 in Philadelphia. The Sixers don’t visit Causeway Street again until Jan. 21.
“I mean, listen, (Brown is) a good player, and we had a pretty good summer as far as adding to our roster,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “So I think anytime we added somebody that I thought made us better, you certainly become hopeful that it’s going to be good. (The process) has been unlike a lot of other guys that I’ve had traded in the past. You try to get to know them, you try to spend some 1-on-1 time with them, and then you get them in the gym and get to work.”
Philly enters the season with sky-high expectations after acquiring Brown (for Paul George and four draft picks) and adding LeBron James to a roster that already featured 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid, two-time All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey and NBA Rookie of the Year runner-up VJ Edgecombe.
James and Embiid also did not suit up Saturday night. Nor did ex-Celtics Anfernee Simons and Tacko Fall, who both signed with the 76ers this offseason.
Brown didn’t speak with reporters before the game, but he did address his Boston return during a Twitch stream Friday night. He compared facing the Celtics to crossing paths with an ex.
“It’s just life,” he said. “It’s like you running into your ex out in public. Like, ‘Damn, we used to go together.’ You feel me? And you just look at them and be like, ‘Dang.’ You’ve just got to go about your business. … It’s like, ‘Damn.’ You know what I mean? It is what it is, man. But no, I’m super excited.”
The Celtics played their regulars after sitting them for Thursday’s preseason-opening win in Cleveland. Tatum, George, Derrick White, Jordan Walsh and Mitchell Robinson started for Boston against Maxey, Edgecombe, Jabari Walker, Justin Edwards and Dean Wade.
Celtics guard Devin Carter (illness) and wing Ron Harper Jr. (shoulder) were inactive.