Jaylen Brown undergoes knee surgery, expected back for Celtics training camp

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown had surgery Wednesday to repair the knee injury that hindered him for the final several months of the 2024-25 Celtics season.

Brown underwent what the team called a “right knee arthroscopic debridement procedure” 3 1/2 weeks after Boston’s season ended with a second-round series loss to the New York Knicks. He “is expected to participate in training camp without limitation,” the Celtics announced.

The four-time All-Star suffered his injury before the NBA All-Star break in February and dealt with knee issues through the playoffs. The team announced the injury as a bone bruise and posterior impingement, and it later was revealed that Brown also was playing through a partially torn meniscus. He received pain management injections before the postseason, which head coach Joe Mazzulla described as “part of the rehab process for him to get back to be his absolute best.”

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in his end-of-season news conference that Brown had been dealing with the meniscus tear “for a while” and that it was “stable.”

“The good news is I think, first of all, Jaylen wants to play,” Stevens said. “Jaylen’s a warrior. Jaylen takes great pride in being out there. And at the same time, we also — he saw obviously our team docs and a couple of other people, and as he even said a couple weeks ago, the knee’s in a good place structurally. So I think he felt comfortable getting out there and going after it. And hopefully, he’ll feel better after being off it for a couple weeks here. The unfortunate part is we’re done in the middle of May, but some of these guys who have some nicks, bruises and other things, that it’ll be good to get some rest.”

An arthroscopic debridement procedure is a common orthopedic surgery that involves doctors removing pieces of loose bone and cartilage from the knee.

Brown, who also battled hip and shoulder injuries earlier in the season, acknowledged after several games that he was playing through pain. He sat out eight of Boston’s final 16 regular-season games — becoming ineligible for All-NBA consideration in the process — and was limited when he was active, logging fewer than 30 minutes in his last eight regular-season appearances.

While he managed his injured knee, his stats suffered. March 2025 was Brown’s lowest-scoring month since 2019. His season-long field-goal and 3-point field-goal percentages (46.3% and 32.4%, respectively) both ranked among the worst of his career, though he did set a personal best in assists per game (4.5).

“I’ve had to come to grips that every night, I’m not going to feel my normal self,” Brown said after an April 2 win over the Miami Heat.

Brown was able to return to full participation for the playoffs, though his shooting touch remained erratic. The 28-year-old delivered some of his best postseason performances while Celtics co-star Jayson Tatum was sidelined, tallying 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Orlando while Tatum sat out with a wrist injury and posting 26-8-12 in the game after Tatum ruptured his Achilles against New York. Brown then had 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and seven turnovers in Boston’s season-ending Game 6 flop at Madison Square Garden.

After that loss, Brown sidestepped questions about his injury, saying he’d take time to determine his “next steps.”

“You take time, sit back and kind of figure it out,” he said. “But I’m excited. Things didn’t go your way this year, things didn’t go our way this year, and it’s unfortunate. But we hold our head up regardless. Losing to the Knicks feels like death. But I was always taught that there’s life after death, so we’ll get ready for whatever’s next in the journey. I’ll be ready for it.”

The timetable for Tatum’s recovery is less clear. His age (27), his clean injury history and the speed with which he underwent surgery all are reasons for optimism, but he still is unlikely to return to the court until early 2026 at the soonest. Tatum’s father offered an expected rehab timeline of “eight to nine months” in an interview with ESPN’s Marc Spears; the Celtics have not shared one but said Tatum “is expected to make a full recovery.”

Tatum was at the Celtics’ practice facility earlier this week, according to social media posts.

Also unclear is how Tatum’s absence will influence Stevens’ roster decisions this offseason. The Celtics already were expected to trade away one or more players from their championship-winning core to avoid massive luxury tax penalties, and losing their central superstar for the foreseeable future could trigger a more drastic overhaul, potentially putting key pieces like Derrick White and Brown on the table as trade options.

Stevens was mum on his offseason plan when he addressed the media last month, but he did say he’s confident in Brown’s ability to lead the team in Tatum’s absence.

“The reality is we have a ton of good players and everyone leans on,” Stevens said. “That said, Jaylen and Jayson have gotten the majority of attention because of how good they are. And I have full faith that any game that you have those guys on the court, or one of those guys on the court, you have a great shot. And so I have full faith in Jaylen.”