Jaylen Brown Says 2026 Among 'Most Fun Years Playing Basketball' Despite Celtics' Loss to 76ers

Despite being eliminated from the playoffs in the first round following Saturday's Game 7 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics star guard Jaylen Brown is still looking on the bright side.

Following Saturday's 109-100 loss in front of Celtics fans at the TD Garden, Brown highlighted the positives of Boston's 2025-26 season, regardless of the abrupt ending.

"This is probably one of my most fun years playing basketball," Brown said, per The Athletic's Jay King. "It wasn't always perfect. It wasn't always analytically (or) aesthetically pleasing, but we won a lot of basketball games, and people could see the grit and the fight that we played with every single night. And tonight was an example of that.

"We left it all out there," he continued. "We played five small guys, we played a rookie, we played whatever. And we scrapped all the way to the end. Just came up a couple, a few plays short."

Brown did his best to keep the season alive for the Celtics, leading the team with 33 points while also adding nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Boston was without star forward Jayson Tatum, who missed the game with a knee injury.

76ers-Celtics Highlights

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While the Celtics were obviously hoping for a deeper run in the playoffs, Brown is right to feel proud of what the team accomplished this season.

Despite being without Tatum for most of the year as he recovered from a torn Achilles tendon, Boston still finished second in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record, largely due to Brown's leadership and productivity. The 29-year-old posted career highs of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

The Celtics will be hoping to be back at full strength next season as they try to return to title contention with Brown and Tatum leading the way.