Jaylen Brown underwent season-ending wrist surgery on May 13 and hopes to be ready to participating in training camp, which starts next week Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
Jaylen Brown is a critical part of the future of the Boston Celtics and it appears new head coach Ime Udoka will have the healthy All-Star on hand during the team’s training camp next week.
Brown said the goal for him was to be ready to go for the start of Boston’s training camp next Tuesday.
“My wrist has been healing,” Brown told Marc Spears of the Undefeated. “Some days it’s better than others. I got to continue to push and work, but I’m excited to be there for camp. And I’m excited to be there with my teammates, and start to build, and start this journey, man. I missed a lot of time, so I’m looking at the season like I’m ready. I want to play. I’m ready.”
Brown underwent season-ending surgery on May 13 for a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist after he experienced constant soreness during the tail end of the regular season. The procedure was expected to sideline him from basketball activities for three months initially. However, teammate Romeo Langford did not return to the court last season after the same procedure until five-plus months after undergoing the wrist ligament repair back in September 2020.
Brown was spotted getting up shots and working through drills with his teammates and Boston’s coaching staff in Las Vegas last month however and he will be four months through the recovery process when camp begins Tuesday.
The 24-year-old wing also spoke about his offseason priorities heading into the season, including adding to a critical part of his offensive game.
“Mostly just trying to heal, and playmaking is one thing,” Brown said. “I’ll definitely be more of a playmaker this season, for sure. Just making the right plays and empowering my teammates. I just want to win games, man. So, every year I just approach the season as just trying to get better. My body feels a lot better. I’m more athletic than I was last season. I had knee problems last year that were lingering and I hope that I won’t have this season. Somebody told me I had 12, probably like, 15 dunks in 58 games, or something like that. I’m like, ‘That’s not me.’
“So, getting back to being athletic, running, just going having fun, being a playmaker, and having more responsibility. Different coach, so I’m looking forward to that journey and that process as well.”
Brown averaged a career-high 24.7 points and 3.4 assists on 48.4% shooting last season over 58 games. Boston opens the regular season on Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
WITH TRAINING CAMP a week away, the Celtics are putting final touches on the supporting cast surrounding Udoka. Boston unveiled the six-person assistant coaching pool, which includes four new faces from Udoka’s past.
The Celtics announced that Damon Stoudamire, Will Hardy, Ben Sullivan and Aaron Miles have been added to the franchise, joining holdovers in Joe Mazzulla and Tony Dobbins. Evan Bradds, Garrett Jackson, DJ MacLeay and Steve Tchiengang have been named to the player enhancement staff. Matt Reynolds will serve as special assistant to Udoka.
The four external additions all have lengthy coaching experience.
Hardy comes from San Antonio – where Udoka started his coaching career under Gregg Popovich – and was an assistant coach for the past six years from 2015-21. Hardy also has some experience as an assistant coach for USA Basketball, including the 2019 FIBA World Cup and 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Stoudamire, Sullivan and Miles – like Udoka – are all Oregon guys. Stoudamire, the former NBA Rookie of the Year, spent the past five seasons at Pacific. He won the conference’s coach of the year award during the 2019-20 season. He’s been an assistant coach at the NBA level before during a stint with the Grizzlies from 2009-11.
Sullivan is fresh off winning an NBA championship with the Bucks, where he spent the past three years as an assistant. Prior to his Milwaukee stint, he was an assistant coach on the Hawks for four seasons.
Miles comes to Boston after spending significant time with the Warriors organization. He was a player development coach for the past two seasons; prior to that, he was the head coach of Golden State’s G-League affiliate.
Mazzulla and Dobbins are the holdovers from the previous staff. Mazzulla was the head coach of the Celtics’ Summer League team that went 4-1 and played in the championship game. Dobbins enters his second season as an assistant after previously spending time as a video coordinator.
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