As Jaylen Brown stood inside the Celtics locker room before Sunday’s game, his eyes lit up.
Brown suffered a facial fracture after being accidentally elbowed in the face by Jayson Tatum in last Wednesday’s win over the 76ers. On Friday, Tatum – seemingly jokingly – said in his postgame press conference that he was going to buy Brown a car because he felt so bad. But Brown was unaware of his teammate’s generosity until he was told by a reporter.
“He said that?” Brown said, surprised. “Nobody told me this.”
Brown couldn’t seem to get it off his mind as he explained how difficult it’s been dealing with a facial fracture.
“It’s been tough the last couple days, but (expletive), if I’m about to get a car,” Brown said. “Cool. Are you serious he said that?”
Told that Tatum did say that, Brown found Tatum standing at his locker and hollered at him across the room.
“Jayson, I’m getting a car bro?” Brown said. “Jayson Tatum, I’m getting a car?”
Tatum didn’t say a word, only nodding his head and patting his chest as if to say, “I got you.”
“He lying,” Brown cracked. “When he do like this (mimicking Tatum’s reaction), he lying.”
It was a light-hearted and funny moment in what’s been some hard days for Brown, who said he’s “feeling a lot better” but still dealing with some pain. After meeting with some specialists and doctors over the last handful of days, it was determined Brown wouldn’t need surgery, which was a relief.
“That’s the good thing,” said Brown, who has a noticeable bruise on the left side of his face. “I’m just happy that I don’t have to go through that process because I probably would have missed a lot more games. So I don’t think it’ll be too long. I figure I’ll be fine.”
Brown is planning on wearing a face mask when he eventually returns. He said it will be the first time he’s ever worn one while playing.
“The process has been fun, it’s been cool,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of excitement around wearing a mask, I guess, so just been going through the process, picking and choosing which one’s the best and going from there.”
It’s unclear when Brown will return or if he may miss this Sunday’s All-Star Game. The Celtics announced that an update on his status will come this week, and Brown said he’s taking it day by day as he lets the pain and swelling go down. But he doesn’t expect to be out long.
“It’s going to take more than a Jayson Tatum elbow to take me out,” Brown said.
