Jaylen Brown Rips Celtics After Nets Loss, 'Come Ready to Play or Don't Play at All'

The Boston Celtics lost an ugly 113-105 NBA Cup home game on Friday to a Brooklyn Nets team that entered the contest with a 2-12 record.

That effort certainly didn't make Celtics star Jaylen Brown happy, who had this to say after the game, per Jay King of The Athletic.

"Come ready to play, or don't play at all," Brown said. "That's my whole thing. We've gotta come ready to play. We just went through the motions today. Like, I don't understand it."

The Nets outscored Boston 70-49 over the second and third quarters.

The Celtics are without five-time All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum, who suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon last May against the New York Knicks in the playoffs. He is expected to miss most or all of the 2025-26 season.

Boston also parted ways last offseason with three key members of the 2023-24 championship team in Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis.

Those absences naturally presented problems for the Celtics entering this season, although they still had enough talent to compete thanks to the likes of Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.

Thus far, this year has been a roller coaster that's resulted in an 8-8 record through 16 games. The Celtics have had a pair of three-game winning streaks, but they've also lost games to the 3-12 Nets and 5-10 Utah Jazz.

Friday's effort was particularly puzzling given that (a) the rebuilding Nets have been one of the NBA's worst reams, (b) the Celtics were at home and (c) Boston was riding a three-game hot streak that culminated with a 113-99 road victory over Brooklyn on Tuesday.

It's clear Brown isn't happy, and understandably so. Per King, Brown said the team didn't have the right effort "for the majority of the game."

"Regardless if you're making or missing shots, regardless of anything, we've just got to come out and play with great energy, great enthusiasm for the game," Brown said. "Like, want to win. It just didn't seem like that was the case tonight."

Brown certainly brought it himself, leading the team with 26 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Celtics will look to move back over .500 when they host the Orlando Magic on Sunday.