Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown gets a lot of flak despite being one of the NBA’s better players.
Just think, the former third overall pick is now a four-time All-Star, 2024 Eastern Conference Finals MVP and 2024 NBA Finals MVP. His career scoring average (19.0 points per game) ranks eighth in Celtics history. He’s third in franchise history in career 3s (1,144). He ranks ninth in Celtics playoff history with 2,608 career points.
Celtics Star Jaylen Brown Reveals Injury Rehab Plan
Brown’s success and accomplishments don’t give him body armor for the vitriol. They don’t protect him from actual injury either, for the matter. With that in mind, Brown tells CelticsBlog reporter Noa Dalzell that he’s still evaluating his options as he looks to rehab a partially torn meniscus that he played through in 2024-25.
“l got a lot of doctors I gotta get evaluated with — see the potential for surgery versus no surgery, wait to speak to the [Celtics] organization,” he says. “For now, it’s just rest and recovery. I’m taking a step back from a long season. Mentally, it was a lot of stuff going on.”
Brown has never sat out 20 or more games in any season. Indeed, he has just two career seasons in which he’s missed more than 15 games. In 2021-22, he missed 16 games largely due to knee and hamstring injuries. In 2024-25, he missed 19 games, largely due to his partially torn meniscus.
The Right Plan
Brown’s durability isn’t a huge concern. His toughness —his ability to play through pain and discomfort —is even less of one. Even still, he and the Celtics are wise to play it safe, especially with Jayson Tatum set to be sidelined for nearly a year.
Next season, Boston will likely run their offense through Brown. As he’s also their top wing defender, that’s a lot of weight to carry. That being said, the Celtics could still reach the playoffs with Tatum out for 8-9 months. This would be similar to how the Los Angeles Clippers were able to fare despite Kawhi Leonard being out for the first three months of the 2024-25 season.
Boston —with their perimeter defense, 3-point shooting and the offensive upside of players like Derrick White and Payton Pritchard —certainly has a shot at mimicking the Clippers. If Kristaps Porzingis is able to return to health, he could make a sizable impact. Then there’s the possibility that they acquire a high-quality piece in exchange for Porzingis or Jrue Holiday, their most likely trade candidates.
Slow & Steady…
If Brown is still hampered by injury, even their best laid plans may go to waste.
Whether that means he should lean towards surgery is unclear. Medical experts will have a much better idea of the best treatment than any journalist, blogger or fan. Nevertheless, the Celtics won’t be back in the playoffs for another year at the earliest and there’s no need to rush through his injury rehab.
