Brown to attend friend’s funeral
Jaylen Brown will be at the funeral for his friend today in Marietta, Ga. Services for Trevin Steede begin at 11 a.m.
The Celtics play tonight in Indianapolis. Brown will be booked on a flight there from Atlanta this afternoon. He may or may not be on it. It’s up to him. No matter how the itinerary goes, it will a difficult time. It has been since Steede died a week ago Wednesday after posting a video entitled, “I want the old us back please.” In it, he professes his love to a woman and is clearly in pain with the direction of the relationship.
The night after Steede was lost, Brown was uncertain of what to do. He eventually chose to play against the Warriors and scored 22 points in the Celts’ victory. Afterward his voice cracked as he told of how he wasn’t sure he could play, but that Steede’s mother and family convinced him to do so.
“I wasn’t in any shape to come out. I didn’t want to leave my room,” Brown said. “But they inspired me to come out and play. And I came out and played in his spirit today. My teammates held me up and we pulled it out.”
The Celtics’ following game was in Atlanta, and Brown traveled early to his hometown to grieve with family and friends. He then had a career-high 27 points in a win over the Hawks.
He’s averaged 19.6 points in the five games since learning of Steede’s fate, and last night he spoke publicly for the first time since the Golden State postgame.
“I’m doing the best I can,” he said after the Celtics’ 118-103 victory over Orlando. “I think basketball’s been a great outlet for me, my family, my friend’s family. So we’re just doing the best we can each and every day.”
He will do his best again today, even if he’s not quite certain what his best will be right now. He’d like to make it to Indy and take the court against the Pacers, but there was no way of telling if that would be possible as he stood in the Celtics dressing room last evening.
“I’m not sure,” Brown said of his plan. “We’ll see. I’ll be at the funeral, and if I can make it back, my intention is to make it back. And if I can, I’ll definitely be playing (tonight) versus Indiana. But we’ll see.”
Emotion cannot be timed. There is no way to tell in advance whether Brown will be in any proper condition to play a basketball game.
“Because it’s hard to just get in and get out, especially when you’re spending time with someone’s family and things like that,” he said. “But (coach Brad Stevens) told me it’s going to be available for me to get back to Indiana if I can in time to play against Indiana. But if not, then I’ll just meet up back with the team (tomorrow).”
Brown appreciates the leeway from Stevens, who has always placed the person above the job in situations that are quite simply bigger than basketball.
“I think Brad has been really great in this process, just somebody to talk to — also just allowing you to deal with it the best way our family and their family feels like we can deal with it,” Brown said. “He’s been great. So we’ll see how it goes, and hopefully I’ll be able to make it to Indiana. If not, then I’ll have to just regroup with my family and I’ll see you guys next game.”
As much as it will hurt to revisit the ordeal today, it’s not as if Brown has been able to escape it by being in another area code. And the extra time he got to spend with Steede’s family last weekend helped gather Brown and allow him to move forward.
“Very important,” he said of the visit. “It was everything, you know, being around the family, being around my friends and just making it a little bit easier for everybody.”
While no cause of death has been listed officially, the video and the silence seem to point in a certain direction. Brown was asked if it is difficult to search for answers.
“No, it’s harder talking about it,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to move on.”
I asked Brown if there was anything he could say to someone who might be in a similar situation as Steede.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I think I want to start a foundation in my friend’s name, and in the future and going from there, you know, try to help people so maybe we can save the next kid.”