Why Celtics Star Jaylen Brown Plans To Keep Wearing Face Mask

It’s coming close to the end of the time frame Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown laid out for how long he would have to wear his face mask.

But even with that, don’t expect the Celtics star, who at times has been frustrated playing with the mask, to take off the protective gear anytime soon.

Brown has played with the mask since the All-Star break after he suffered a facial fracture when he collided with teammate Jayson Tatum going for a rebound on Feb. 8 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I think it’s not fully healed,” Brown told reporters following Sunday’s blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs, per MassLive’s Brian Robb. “I think they say like you got like six weeks until the cartilage starts to grow back. So you’re, I guess, safe if you were to take another hit. But you still got another six weeks before it fully gets back to where it is, or where it’s supposed to be. So I guess technically I got like a couple more days until I don’t have to wear it anymore if I didn’t want to.”

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Brown doesn’t expect to shed the mask quite yet, though, especially since he has someone close to him still pushing for him to keep on wearing it.

“If you want to be safe, they say you keep wearing it,” Brown said, per Robb. “My mom wants me to wear it, so I’ll probably keep wearing it.”

While the mask can agitate Brown, it hasn’t impacted his play on the court. In 15 games wearing the mask, the Celtics All-Star has averaged 28.5 points per game on 51.4% shooting to go along with 6.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals. He was even named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

Brown lit up the Spurs for 41 points in the 137-93 victory, which earned him plenty of praise as well from teammate Malcolm Brogdon and showed that Brown surely has the potential to be a No. 1 option on a team with Jayson Tatum sidelined for the contest.

Brown sure will look to keep the hot hand with his mask on as the Celtics travel to face the Washington Wizards on Tuesday before a road showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.