NEW YORK — Jaylen Brown was understandably disappointed as he sat at the podium late Friday night in the bowels of Madison Square Garden.
This was a player one year removed from an NBA championship, who’d participated in six of the last eight Eastern Conference finals, having to digest an embarrassingly lopsided loss that ended the Celtics’ season in the East semis.
Brown didn’t expect Boston’s bid for back-to-back titles to end this early. He also didn’t anticipate the devastating Achilles injury that will sideline his co-star Jayson Tatum for at least a large chunk of next season, if not all of it.
“We were trying to do something special, go back-to-back,” Brown said. “We had a great group, we played well all year, so I think this probably stings even more. We just had some unfortunate events, some injuries. Personally, I had some stuff that I was persevering through, and it just caught up to us in the end.”
But despite the whirlwind of uncertainty that now engulfs the franchise, Brown’s responses were laced with optimism.
“You take time, sit back, and kind of figure it out,” Brown said after the New York Knicks eliminated the Celtics in a 119-81 beatdown in Game 6. “But I’m excited. Things didn’t go your way this year, things didn’t go our way this year, and it’s unfortunate. But we hold our head up regardless. Losing to the Knicks feels like death. But I was always taught that there’s life after death, so we’ll get ready for whatever’s next in the journey. I’ll be ready for it.”
Asked whether the unfortunate end to the season will serve as motivation, he replied: “Absolutely.”
“There’s a lot to be excited for,” said Brown, who did not want to share additional details about the knee injury he dealt with for the final three months of the season. “This journey is not the end. It’s not the end for me. I’m looking forward to coming back stronger. So you just take this with your chin up. I know Boston, it looks gloomy right now, obviously with JT being out and us ending the year. But there’s a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end, so I’m looking forward to what’s next.”
Even before Tatum’s injury, which is expected to sideline the six-time All-Star into 2026, the Celtics’ roster was likely to look different next season. Unless the team is willing to foot the bill for a group of players that is projected to cost close to $500 million between salaries and luxury tax penalties — and navigate the punitive player acquisition restrictions imposed on second-apron teams — difficult trades and/or cuts will be necessary.
The extent of that overhaul will be the No. 1 offseason storyline for the Celtics, who must choose whether to maintain a championship-contending roster or treat 2025-26 as a reset year of sorts while Tatum recuperates.
Unless president of basketball operations Brad Stevens makes the audacious choice to trade Brown and his $304 million contract, the 28-year-old will be the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
“Finishing in May feels weird,” Brown said. “It’s definitely not something we were prepared for. Obviously, Jayson’s injury, I’m sure there’s a lot to process, just as everything this whole year. But we’ll meet. We’ll take a couple days. It’s hard processing it all in real time, throwing all these questions at me, but I’m happy that our group stayed together. It was an honor to share the locker room with these guys. It hurt to see the emotions of all the guys, being a leader, and not being able to carry everybody to the promised land, it sucks. But it just wasn’t our year.”
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