BOSTON — The Celtics, back from a three-day break, endured a loss to the inferior Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, but that was far from the biggest concern looming amongst those in the reigning champions’ locker room the past few days.
Jaylen Brown and assistant coach Amile Jefferson were both victims of recent home break-ins at their respective Massachusetts residences earlier this week. Brown and Jefferson were on the road as the Celtics matched up against the Wizards in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, giving the intruders time to invade and steal Jefferson’s 2024 championship ring. Nobody at either Brown or Jefferson’s homes was harmed, but the incidents — still under investigation by Massachusetts police — shook up the 28-year-old.
Brown missed practice earlier in the week to be alongside his mother at his Wellesley, Mass., home and expressed his emotions following Boston’s 117-108 loss to the Bulls.
“The Celtics have brought a lot of information for us to kind of figure it out and make sure we can do our job when we travel and stuff,” Brown said. “And I know it’s been going on in different parts of the world and in different parts of the (United States) where similar things have happened to athletes, etc. So hopefully anybody who (it) hasn’t happened to yet, just make sure you have the things in place to make sure that it doesn’t. But obviously, to go through that experience, you know people still in there, still in the crib, it just makes you think about some things differently.”
When questions regarding the incident followed, Brown sighed and worked to redirect the postgame conversation to focus solely on the Celtics’ underperformance, which dropped the team to 21-6 on the season.
“Next question,” Brown responded.
The Celtics struggled tremendously from start to finish against the Bulls, shooting just 25% from 3-point range on 56 attempts — a major dip from Boston’s 36.7% on the campaign. And Brown, who had only reached four points by halftime, clawed and battled to get Boston within striking distance before the final buzzer. But that effort came to no avail and instead pried into Brown’s frustrations in the critical final stretch.
Brown was charged with a technical foul seconds after Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was assessed a technical foul. That brought Boston from a three-point deficit with 5:12 left in the fourth quarter to a five-point deficit, sparking an 18-12 Bulls run to bury the Celtics and dust their hands off with ease.
“Here’s the thing: You get fined, I got fined a couple of weeks ago for inadvertent gestures that are determined not a part of the game, which was fine. I took the fine,” Brown said of the technical foul. “But what part of the game is a ref calling inadvertent technical fouls and then like I said to him, ‘You called a tech for no reason.’ He said, ‘If you say it to me again, I’m gonna call another tech.’ (I said again), ‘You call a tech for no reason,’ then he called the tech. Like man, get outta here. You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game, either. You wanna fine people for gestures and all this stuff. Fine that. That was some (expletive).”
Brown and the Celtics will see the Bulls again on Saturday night in Chicago.
