Jaylen Brown
Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics are fresh off being eliminated by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. To say their elimination was disappointing would be an understatement.
Yet, we can’t act like the Celtics didn’t face many challenges along the way, such as losing Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles at the end of Game 4. Tatum was immediately lost for the rest of the postseason, with no hope for a return, even if they reached the NBA Finals.
While many counted the Celtics out from the moment Tatum’s Achilles ruptured, they still managed to win Game 5 thanks to Derrick White’s heroic 34-point performance. Boston’s perseverance without their best player was impressive, but little did we know, Tatum wasn’t the Celtics’ only star player who dealt with an injury.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Brown had been playing on a partially torn meniscus since the end of the regular season. Of course, this isn’t an injury that had time to heal, so he was also playing hurt during the playoffs too.
Brown will need to be re-evaluated later this week, where doctors will determine whether surgery is necessary. He’d been receiving pain-killing injections to help manage the injury since March. It should also be noted that Brown missed the Celtics’ final three regular season games while dealing with the injury.
Shortly after Brown was eliminated, he spoke briefly about his injury, noting that he wasn’t about to make any excuses for their early playoff exit.
“I don’t make excuses,” he told reporters. “Obviously, it’s tough the way we went out like tonight, but the way we finished the year, personally, the way I finished the year, persevering through some physical stuff that I was battling through, I’m proud of our group.”
Jaylen Brown
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