Jaylen Brown Says He Played 'Inspired' vs. Warriors After Death of Best Friend

The Boston Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night behind the strong play of Jaylen Brown, who was playing the game with a heavy heart. 

"My best friend passed last night. It was tough to kind of accept it," Brown said after the game, per Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. "Everybody was kind of in shock. But I knew coming into today that he would have wanted me to play. It was hard getting my thoughts together, but after talking to his mom and his family, they inspired me to come out and play."

Brown led the Celtics with 22 points in the 92-88 win.

Brown found out that his childhood friend, Trevin Steede, had died only hours before the game. He wasn't sure he was going to play, but his friend's mother convinced him to stay in the lineup.

After the game, he posted this picture of the two of them:

The 22 points were Brown's third most in his two-year career, while he also came through with one of the game's biggest highlights:

The Celtics experienced this type of situation last season when Isaiah Thomas played through the death of his sister during the playoffs. The veterans on the roster were impressed by the young player's ability to play through the sadness.

"Much respect for him, because that's difficult and he was hurting," Celtics center Al Horford said of Brown. "He is hurting. It was one of those things where I didn't know if he was gonna play tonight, but it just speaks of his character."

Brown is expected to return to Georgia to be with the family Friday.