Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown was fighting through knee pain late in the season and throughout the playoffs, and now we know why.
Brown played during the playoffs with a partial meniscus tear in his right knee, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Brown will undergo further evaluation this week to determine whether he will need surgery to correct the problem.
Brown had been receiving pain injections in his knee since March. Those were previously reported, but at that time, the injury was characterized as a bone bruise. Clearly, Brown’s injury was much more severe than that, though it is unclear if he or the Celtics knew that at the time.
To Brown’s credit, it was not blatantly obvious during the playoffs that he was dealing with a significant injury. He averaged 22.3 points per game, right in line with his regular season average. He did seem to slightly wear down in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, as he only scored more than 20 points in two of the six games.
Despite the injury, Brown was brutally honest after the team’s season-ending loss on Friday, and did not use his knee as an excuse for Boston’s defeat.
The Celtics will certainly be hoping that Brown does not need surgery. If he does, the team will be facing the reality that both of its star players are undergoing major procedures during the same offseason.
