Somewhere around 6:00, about 90 minutes before the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic tipped off in their first preseason game, another reporter and I were watching Jaylen Brown warm up. Brown, just like most players, likes to get loose with some music in his earpods.
“Whatever Jaylen is listening to right now is a banger,” the other reporter said to me. I watched Brown hit a deep 3-pointer,then shuffle into another spot to catch a pass and drill another shot.
“He’s got like a boxer shuffle going on there,” I responded, noting that Brown looked loose and free.
So it wasn’t much of a surprise that Jaylen looked more like James Brown as he danced his way to16 first-quarter points that were so super bad he had to jump back and kiss himself ... or at least blow some kisses towards the bench after drilling a corner 3.
“Kisses? Me? Kisses? I don’t know about that,” Brown joked after the game. But just like the Orlando defense earlier in the game, Brown couldn’t contain himself when it came to his first game action since surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist.
“It was fun. I haven’t been on the court in a while, so just getting out there in front of the home crowd felt great,” Brown said. “The playoffs were really hard for me to watch, but I’m back, I feel great, and I’m ready to play some good basketball.”
There was never any doubt about Brown’s return. The Celtics always expected Brown to come back and be ready for the season, but that didn’t make things much easier for Brown, who had never gone through surgery before.
“At first I was a little nervous and scared going into it, but things went well,” Brown said. “Right now I think I’m still ahead of schedule. I’m just trying to take it day-by-day. Hopefully there’s no setbacks and things like that.”
Getting hit on the wrist is inevitable for a slashing guard who regularly finds his way into the paint. Slaps at the ball always find hands, wrists, and forearms, just like they did in this game.
“I got hit and it hurt for a little bit but the adrenaline took over and it finally wore off,” Brown said. He wore a wrap on the wrist and could be seen rubbing at it at different points in the game. “Just continuing to stay with a routine. It’s not going to be perfect but I think that I’ll be fine ... It held up pretty good.”
Brown’s evolution over his five-year career has been impressive. His game has grown tremendously since his rookie year and he comes into this season as an almost 25-year-old veteran with hopes of winning a championship in the near future. As he grows, so does his game, but having the game taken away from him could be part of what triggers the next steps.
“The game, when you're forced to watch it, when you're forced to look at it from different angles, the game just looks different for me now, in a sense,” he said. “I don't know how to describe it. It just doesn't look the same. I spent a lot of time watching, watching the playoffs, watching film during the offseason because I couldn't. I was sidelined. But now that I'm back, the game definitely feels different, but in a good way.”
However that ultimately manifests itself is yet to be seen. This is a Celtics team that still has many questions and an uncertain future. They may be fun this season and, depending on how some things break, they might make some noise in the postseason. But there is still a lot to figure out.
Brown is a centerpiece to all of that, and the new perspective may ultimately be what helps him rise to an even higher level. For now, though, Brown is just enjoying being back on the floor, and he hopes his wrist can survive a few more missed digs at the ball so he can stay on it.
“I’m moving in the right direction,” he said. “I’m still like 80-85 percent but as the season goes on and I’m staying on top of my routine, it’s going to get better. So today was a good test.”
