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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON — Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said he’s still unsure of his status for next weekend’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City after suffering a facial fracture in a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
“I’m taking it day to day right now,” Brown said before the Celtics played the Memphis Grizzlies at TD Garden on Sunday afternoon. “I’m just letting the swelling go down, letting the pain subside, and then I’ll kind of go from there.
“So, I can’t make any determinations long-term because I’m just taking it day to day.”
Brown suffered the injury when he collided with fellow Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum when they were both chasing after a loose ball off a Brown missed 3-pointer and didn’t see each other. Tatum inadvertently hit Brown in the face with an elbow, sending Brown crashing to the floor and back to the locker room, where he was initially ruled out with a facial contusion before later being diagnosed with the fracture.
“Feeling a lot better for sure,” Brown said. “Still having a little bit of pain but feeling better from the first couple days.
“Had to get a couple scans, see a bunch of specialists and different doctors to get all the info. But they came to the determination I don’t have to have surgery, so that’s the good thing. I’m just happy that I don’t have to go through that process because I probably would have missed a lot more games. So, I don’t think it’ll be too long. I figure I’ll be fine.”
Brown said he will be wearing a mask — something he hasn’t done before — and said the process of getting one fitted has been “fun.”
“There’s a lot of excitement around wearing a mask, I guess, so just been going through the process, picking and choosing which one’s the best and going from there,” he said.
After the Celtics’ win Friday over the Charlotte Hornets, Tatum — who said he felt terrible about what happened — joked with reporters that he was going to buy Brown a car as repayment and said later it would be a “safe” one.
Brown was informed of this during his media session Sunday while Tatum was a few feet away at his locker, leading to a playful back-and-forth between the pair.
“He was probably just playing,” Brown said with a smile.
The 26-year-old is having his best season, setting career-highs in points (26.5), rebounds (7) and field goal percentage (48.7), and was voted into his second All-Star Game as a reserve by the league’s coaches.
And, he said, outside of sleeping issues the first couple of days, his injury is healing nicely.
“It’s been tough to sleep the first couple of days, but I’m all right,” he said, before adding with a smile, “It’s going to take more than a Jayson Tatum elbow to take me out.”