Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown called the court for Friday’s In-Season Tournament game against the Toronto Raptors “unacceptable.”
Brown said postgame he slipped and may have strained his groin due to the court being slippery all game.
“I think as players we’re all here for the In-Season Tournament because it’s going to generate revenue, excitement, competition, but we’ve got to make sure the floor is safe to play on,” Brown said. “We can’t put our players out there and risk their health.”
Brown said the In-Season Tournament court he played on in Boston “was fine.” But he did say he heard other players around the league “mention they were slipping around,” during In-Season Tournament games.
“I think they need to make sure that’s the emphasis before somebody gets seriously hurt,” Brown said.
“It was slippery,” says Precious Achiuwa. https://t.co/om3CTV2yLX
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) November 18, 2023
Brown wasn’t the only player to comment on the slippery court Friday. Raptors forward Precious Achiuwa agreed with Brown, calling the court “slippery.” Brown’s teammate Kristaps Porziņģis said the courts “need to be reviewed.”
The Celtics beat the Raptors 108-105 to improve to 10-2 on the season.
Evaluating Brown’s comments
Brown sounded furious after hurting himself while slipping on the court during the fourth quarter. He wasn’t the only Celtics player to voice his opinion about the court. In the locker room, a couple of other players held a discussion echoing some of Brown’s concerns. Porziņģis, who did a joint press conference with Brown, was asked about the issue after hearing his teammate’s comment. Porzingis said he could also feel the slickness of the new court.
The new, In-Season Tournament courts do make the tournament games stand out. But, if the court actually was more slippery than usual, this isn’t the first time one of the new courts has had a problem. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
