Why Former Celtic Has ‘All The Respect In The World’ From Jaylen Brown

Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions for the Boston Celtics.

In the afternoon, they lost Anfernee Simons in a trade with the Chicago Bulls. A few hours later, they dominated the Dallas Mavericks for their third straight win.

After the game, multiple Celtics players expressed how sad they were to see Simons go, including Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown.

Brown in particular couldn’t say enough about his former teammate.

“Anfernee has all the respect in the world from me — it’s a business, but there’s a human aspect to it. And since he’s been here, he’s contributed to winning. He’s won us some games. He’s just a great, great person, great kid on and off the floor, just humble,” Brown told reporters after Tuesday’s win. “I hope he gets everything that he’s looking for just because he just fit right in with his group of guys in our locker room. He could have had different thoughts and thought differently, and his energy could have been different.”

After being a full-time starter for the last three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Simons gladly accepted a bench role with Boston and was a true team player. He didn’t start a single game for the Celtics but didn’t miss a game, either, leading the team’s second unit in scoring.

“Man, he was a great teammate and did everything he needed to do that we asked him and more and contributed to winning. So Anfernee has all the respect in the world from me, and I hope he gets everything he deserves,” Brown added.

Simons will look to continue his strong campaign with the Bulls, who are the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference and three games below .500. He may not be there for long, however, as he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.