Celtics practice pace at a sprint
Brown wants to play fast and thinks ‘we got the personnel to do so’
No team says they want to slow the ball down at the start of training camp. Many simply end up that way once the season starts. But from what Jaylen Brown can see after the first two days of practice, the pace is moving at his desired rate.
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
“Pace. I think that we want to play fast. And we got a lot of guys that can do that,” Brown said Tuesday. “Today we was flying. I’ve been saying it for years, I want to play fast. And I think we got the personnel to do so. We got bigs who can run, we got guards who can get up and down the court. To me, that’s music to my ears. Today, the pace was (great).”
And Brown, fully recovered from a torn left wrist ligament that ended his season before last spring’s first-round playoff elimination by Brooklyn, has been able to do everything from the start.
“I feel good. I feel really good. My body feels well. I feel athletic, I feel light, I feel fast, I’m in shape,” he said. “As for my wrist, I gotta continue to keep pushing. Some days it’s like a little sore right now, nothing to really worry about too much.
“But just trying to keep it (healthy) and break through that scar tissue that’s still there. The wrist is one of the harder things to heal. It’s great that it’s my off-hand but it still has a tremendous effect on my game, my shooting, my ball handling, my defense, putting my hand in there. So just using our staff to continue to get better and whatnot.”
Tatum is ‘a guy I trust’
Brown and Jayson Tatum have been connected as cornerstones of this franchise since the latter’s rookie season — Brown’s second. And to hear Brown tell it, their bond is stronger than ever, regardless of how some may perceive their friendship.
“It’s definitely grown a lot. I think it’s centered around respect,” he said. “I think there’s a respect there. Jayson respects my work ethic. I respect his. We both put a lot into this game. Regardless of what I do off the court or what people think I do off the court, I put my energy and my heart and soul into this game. So I think our relationship is built around respect. I respect Jayson. I think he’s one of the best players in this game regardless of 25-and-under or over. And I think he can be one of the best players when it’s all said and done. I think the same about myself. So I think respect is what the relationship is centered around.
“I think the media likes to dichotomize things and put one thing against the other like it has to be a Batman and a Robin,” said Brown. “Or one guy and the other guy can’t be whatever. We’re just two guys that can hoop. But the media wants to kind of sometimes write the story that pulls us apart. But we talk a lot. We don’t let it bother us. We hear a lot of the things, comparisons, etc. But at the end of the day I want the best for him, he wants the best for me. Regardless of everybody saying of what everybody’s saying that we can’t coexist and we don’t play well together or whatever. I enjoy playing with Jayson. I really do. He’s a guy I trust out there to make plays.
“And I know he trusts me out there as well. And sometimes that’s not always easy to find. We kind of started our careers together, we’ve won a lot of games here in Boston together at an early age, which is rare. It’s sometimes fascinating to me to see such an urgency to pit us against each other at times. But I could care less about what you read and see so it doesn’t really bother me none. I just try to come out and be a better version of myself. I want the best for my teammates and I want the best for myself as well. So we just take that one day at a time.”
NBA’s COVID response
Though the NBA’s COVID policies, countered by the refusal of some players to get vaccinated, is once again in the midst of a national debate, it’s also once again leading the right way, according to Brown.
“I think the NBA and the union have done a great job,” said Brown, who as one of the youngest members of the Players Association’s executive committee has been privy to all conversations between the two groups. “I think the WNBA is 99% vaccinated and I think the NBA is over 90%.
“So I think the NBA and the union has done a really good job. And certain states and certain entities are not at that percentage. Sometimes it’s interesting to see what the concern is with the NBA. The NBA is doing a really good job and so is the union. But everybody has their own thoughts about it. Personally, my closest family members were all vaccinated. I have family members who are vaccinated who are concerned with getting the booster shot, or multiple booster shots. And I have some people in my family who aren’t vaccinated at all. Just depending on your situation, your family and how you feel. I think that agenda kinda (gets set) for each and every individual. But I think the NBA and the players association are definitely frontrunners about getting vaccinated.”