Bruiser Brown sits out
Celtics rookie tweaks knee in summer debut
SALT LAKE CITY — Just a precaution, mind you, but summer league games don’t even qualify as a footnote in the larger picture of Jaylen Brown’s nascent NBA career.
That’s why the Celtics rookie, his new fans still peppering Twitter following his explosive summer league debut on Monday night, was held out of last night’s game against the Jazz with a mild hyperextension of his left knee. Brown is scheduled to have a precautionary MRI this morning.
“I don’t think it’s bad. It’s summer league. Anything like that, he doesn’t need to (push it),” said Celtics assistant Micah Shrewsberry, who is coaching the team during the Utah leg of the summer schedule. “We have a lot of games left this summer. It’s kind of precautionary. Let him rest today, then we have another day off, and then he’ll be back.”
The Celtics’ top draft pick was a bit of a revelation going head-to-head for much of the opener against the player taken two picks ahead of him — Sixers forward Ben Simmons. Though Brown shot only 2-for-7 from the floor, the 6-foot-7 forward was such a force off the dribble that he shot 17 free throws, making 11.
He also blocked the taller Simmons twice, a small measure of justice for a player who truly believes he was the best player taken on the night of June 23.
Brown’s most memorable comment as a Celtic to date — a stated desire to figuratively rip someone’s head off — is a running theme. It helps that his older brother, Quenton, is an aspiring professional football player.
“I guess it kind of started growing up. In the city where I grew up (Marietta, Ga.,) it’s kind of like we all have a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “Everybody’s trying to get somewhere; everybody’s trying to do something so that’s just how my city raised me.
“My brother’s a football player. He’s actually trying out for the Raiders now, so he’s much older than me, so he used to beat me up pretty bad growing up.”
That was only a beginning, though. When the Sixers’ much larger power forward, Richuan Holmes, took Brown down with a hard foul after a dunk attempt, the rookie had to be pulled away by a teammate.
“Absolutely, it’s a man’s league,” said Brown. “You’re not playing against kids anymore, you’re playing against grown men who do this for a living so you just definitely have to take care of your body. You have to be aware of things when they come up, make sure you’re healthy as possible and ready to go.”
And the next time Brown is on the floor he’ll be back on the attack, attempting to dunk over another bigger player. His knack for drawing fouls and getting to the line is significant.
“That’s a good thing,” said Celts coach Brad Stevens. “That’s what he’s got to be able to do. And that’s something that he can impact, as far as getting to the rim right away. Now, it’s a little bit different, and he saw that at times as our other guys did when Richuan Holmes was in there blocking shots. Like, you have to be able to finish when those guys go vertical and that’s a whole different thing than finishing at other times in the summer league. That’s part of the progress of getting better.”
Above all, the coaching staff has seen that aggression materialize in practice.
“Walt (McCarty, C’s assistant coach) always has a saying. Anytime somebody gets a step he’ll just yell it out – On Yo Head,” Shrewsberry said of an alarm that Brown has triggered. “It happens. I heard it a couple of times on the bench. Jaylen gets a step and he can just take off. He’s done it a few times in practice that he’s made those plays really aggressively.
“It’s great to have that energy. Getting to the free throw line, just getting to the basket aggressively. He puts a lot of pressure not just on the defense, but the refs also to call a foul. He shot so many free throws, you didn’t notice that he didn’t make a field goal, because he was getting to the line and scoring points.
“He’s great to have, fun to have, to keep getting him ready for the season.”