Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown on Friday tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. Brown is asymptomatic and in quarantine.
Brown has not publicly said if he is vaccinated against the virus, calling the decision “a personal choice.”
“I have my own thoughts about it but I respect my teammates’ decisions and things like that,” he said in September, via Tom Westerholm of Boston.com “I know everybody has their own opinion about it but I think it’s a personal choice.”
During training camp, he said he thought the NBA did “a really good job” regarding vaccination efforts, but he did not clarify whether or not he personally was vaccinated. He said his “closest family members” were vaccinated but he has others who did not receive the vaccine, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps on Sept. 28 obtained a memo sent to teams regarding health and safety protocols for the upcoming season. Players are afforded different privileges according to their vaccination status.
Notable in this case is that vaccinated players only need to test for the virus if they have symptoms, are a close contact, or a team medical staff member requires it. Unvaccinated players, on the other hand, must test for the virus daily when they will be at team facilities or with other team personnel.
Brown is listed on the Celtics’ injury report as going through health and safety protocols and is out for Saturday’s preseason game against the Toronto Raptors.
The All-Star logged 25 points through 26 minutes in Boston’s first preseason game against the Orlando Magic. His 2020-21 season ended prematurely due to wrist surgery, but he finished with a career-high 24.7 points and six rebounds through 58 games.
