Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown played through a partially torn right meniscus in the postseason, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Brown was dealing with knee pain in the final stretch of the regular season and sat out multiple games to rest it. He was receiving injections since March.
He finished the playoffs averaging 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds but only showed glimpses of the player who won Finals MVP a season ago.
“I don’t make excuses,” Brown said after Game 6 in New York. “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.”
The New York Knicks defeated the Celtics in six games to advance to the East Finals. They will play against the Indiana Pacers beginning Wednesday.
Summer Of Pain For Brown, Tatum, Celtics
What was once a season of promise with the Celtics chasing back-to-back titles is now a summer of uncertainty.
Jayson Tatum has to recover from a ruptured Achilles and will likely miss the entire 2025-26 season. Brown has to receive consultation on whether surgery is the best route for his partially torn meniscus.
Al Horford is a free agent this summer and there is still no clear path to recovery for Kristaps Porzingis’ mystery illness.
How much has playing through his knee pain hampered Brown’s chances of a full recovery? That remains to be seen. He sacrificed his body to keep Boston’s title hopes alive but now there is certainly a world in which this core isn’t able to contend for a title again.
Derrick White seemed to recognize this reality almost immediately.
“It sucks,” White said in the Game 6 postgame interview. “We’ll never get this season back. We’re never gonna have the exact same team again.”
