Jaylen Brown will not play in the penultimate game of the Celtics’ regular season, rendering him ineligible for All-NBA consideration.
Boston ruled Brown, who’s been dealing with a lingering knee injury, out for Friday night’s matchup with the Charlotte Hornets. Brown has appeared in 63 games this season, and players must play at least 65 to qualify for most end-of-season awards, including the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
The Celtics will close out the regular season on Sunday with another home game against Charlotte.
After sitting out five games between March 14 and March 31, Brown played in four straight over the last week-and-a-half, saying he was doing so to adjust his game to account for any physical limitations he might have in the playoffs. He was on a minutes restriction in all four games and logged just 22 minutes in each of the final two.
On Tuesday, Brown scored a season-low six points and sat out the fourth quarter and overtime in a 119-117 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. After that win, teammate Kristaps Porzingis commended Brown for his toughness but questioned his decision to play through his injury in games that meant nothing for Boston’s playoff seeding. (The Celtics are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.)
“He always preaches his warrior mindset and he lives by it, but to what extent do we need that right now?” Porzingis said.
The Celtics listed Brown as questionable for Wednesday night’s game in Orlando before eventually ruling him out along with Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Al Horford. Boston fielded a lineup of backups against the Magic and lost 96-76.
Brown made second-team All-NBA in 2022-23 and narrowly missed a third-team nod last season, losing out on the final spot to Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker. He went on to earn MVP honors in the 2024 Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals and received his fourth career All-Star selection this season.
Holiday, an All-Defensive honoree in six of the last seven seasons, also will not reach the 65-game benchmark to qualify.
Brown was the only Celtics player listed on Thursday’s injury report.
