Report: Jaylen Brown of the Celtics may require knee surgery

The Boston Celtics standout Jaylen Brown may possibly need surgery for a partially torn right meniscus, according to an ESPN report on Saturday. Jayson Tatum had surgery four days earlier for a damaged right Achilles tendon.

According to the article, Brown, 28, played the final month of the regular season and the postseason with the injury. During the playoffs, he averaged 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in 36.5 minutes per game. This week, tests will be performed on Brown to see if surgery is necessary.

According to an earlier ESPN article, Brown had started receiving pain injections in his right knee in March. Despite missing the final three games of the regular season, the four-time All-Star participated in every postseason game.

“I don’t make excuses,” he said to reporters following Friday’s Eastern Conference semifinal Game 6 trip defeat to the New York Knicks, which ended his season. “Obviously, it’s tough the way we went out like tonight, but the way we finished the year, personally, the way I finished the year, persevering through some physical stuff that I was battling through, I’m proud of our group.”

Tatum was gone late in the Celtics’ Game 4 defeat to the Knicks, and Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t playing at his best this spring because of an unspecified ailment.

As he concluded his tenth season, Brown—who was selected third overall in the 2016 NBA Draft—averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and a career-high 4.5 assists in 34.3 minutes of action. In 603 games over his career, Brown has averaged 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 30.6 minutes (496 starts).