It looks like Jaylen Brown will be rocking a mask when he returns with facial fracture
BOSTON -- We don't know when Jaylen Brown will be back on the court after suffering a facial fracture on Wednesday night. But when he does return, the Celtics All-Star will look a bit different.
Brown gave a bit of an update on his Instagram story Thursday, sharing a selfie of his swollen face. The image was captioned "Mask Incoming," meaning Brown will be wearing a protective facial mask when he does return to the floor.
Brown suffered the injury in the final minute of the first half Wednesday night, when he took an elbow from teammate Jayson Tatum on the left side of his face as the two went for a rebound against the 76ers. Brown got up slowly and immediately went to the Boston locker room. He did not return.
Brown has already been ruled out for Friday night's matchup with the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden, and will likely be out until after the All-Star break. Brown was named to his second All-Star team after putting up career-best numbers in the first half of the season, averaging 27 points off 49 percent shooting to go with 7.1 rebounds.
Sometimes, the protective mask brings out the best in players. Pistons star Rip Hamilton started wearing a mask in 2002 after breaking his nose twice, and continued with the look throughout his career.
The last time a Celtics player donned a protective mask was back in 2017, when Kyrie Irving suffered a facial fracture. He wore a mask for 13 games, and averaged 27.7 points off 54 percent shooting.
