Jaylen Brown sends message to Celtics fans after ‘death’ of title defense

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 athlete 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 noted We had a great group we played well all year so I think this supposedly stings even more We just had certain unfortunate events particular injuries Personally I had certain 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 stated after the New York Knicks eliminated the Celtics in a - beatdown in Encounter 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 inevitably 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 Related Articles How Jaylen Brown led Celtics on off court after Jayson Tatum injury Callahan Celtics collapse in Event was self-inflicted Celtics add Jaylen Brown to injury review ahead of Battle vs Magic With Jayson Tatum out Jaylen Brown carries Celtics in warrior effort OBF With NBA playoffs here it s Face time for Jayson Tatum Sought whether the unfortunate end to the season will serve as motivation he replied Absolutely There s a lot to be excited for explained 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 the Celtics roster was likely to look different next season Unless the group is willing to foot the bill for a group of players that is projected to cost close to million between salaries and luxury tax penalties and deal with the punitive contestant acquisition restrictions imposed on second-apron teams arduous trades and or cuts will be necessary The extent of that overhaul will be the No offseason storyline for the Celtics who must choose whether to maintain a championship-contending roster or treat - as a reset year of sorts while Tatum recuperates Unless president of basketball operations Brad Stevens makes the audacious choice to bargain Brown and his million contract the -year-old will be the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future Finishing in May feels weird Brown disclosed 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