BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla shared a positive update on the progression of Jaylen Brown at Celtics’ afternoon practice on Saturday: he’s had no limitations this week, and is expected to be a full-go tomorrow.
Brown has been dealing with a right knee impingement since before the All-Star break, and missed 13 games this season due to that injury.
“He looks good,” Mazzulla said. “He was able to do everything. No limitations. He’s been great physically and mentally, preparing himself, ready to go. I love the week that he had.”
Brown was on the floor working out with assistant coach Tony Dobbins when practice opened to the media, and was one of the last Celtics on the floor
All week, Celtics players have shared positive updates about Jaylen Brown
“He looked great today,” Al Horford said at practice on Tuesday. “I was very happy to see him out there, doing everything. It’s a really good sign for us.”
On Saturday, Derrick White echoed that sentiment.
“He’s one of the best players in the game, so it’s always great having him,” White said. “He looks good, he’s feeling good, and we know what starts tomorrow.”
Derrick White tells @RealBobManning that Jaylen Brown has looked good at practice this week:
“He’s one of the best players in the game, so it’s always great having him. He looks good, he’s feeling good, and we know what starts tomorrow.” pic.twitter.com/73WRTXWPQH
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) April 19, 2025
On Wednesday, Kristaps Porzingis said he spoke with Brown and gave him some advice about managing the injury.
“Not to go into too much detail, but [telling him] stuff that just has helped me,” Porzingis said. “It helped me, and we have some similar stuff, maybe. He has something going on; maybe I know more or less what it is, so I just gave him my point of view.”
On April 8th, after the Celtics’ overtime win over the Knicks, Porzingis indicated he was supportive of Brown resting.
“He’s a tough dude,” Porzingis said. “He always preaches his warrior mindset, and he lives by it, but to what extent do we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he’s going to be ready for the most important moments.”
Brown ultimately sat out the final three games of the regular season and subsequently received pain management injections in his right knee to “promote recovery,” as ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne first reported, and Joe Mazzulla later confirmed.
Mazzulla shed some light on what Brown’s warrior mindset is like behind the scenes.
“His perspective, his ability to stay true himself, his ability to just stay kind of right here, regardless of if it’s going well or not going well,” Mazzulla said. “He doesn’t get distracted by the things around — just kind of has an understanding of how things are supposed to go, comfortable with who he is, and just kind of puts himself in a position to be effective no matter what. So, he just has a really good perspective and balance on the things that go into what makes him successful and what makes our team successful.”
