Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown took a swipe at former league MVP Joel Embiid for not playing back-to-backs.
Brown: “It’s hard to be great if you never play back-to-backs”
Following Boston’s blowout victory over the Miami Heat on a back-to-back, Embiid caught a stray from Brown in his postgame press conference.
Brown impressed at TD Garden with 29 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Celtics bounced back from a close defeat in Cleveland the night before.
“It’s hard for teams to be great if some of their best players never play back-to-backs.
“Even when you’re not feeling well, to show that you’re still available, I think kind of just sets the tone for your team to have the same type of mindset.”
The 28-year-old didn’t play a part in Cleveland due to illness and right up until the pregame shootaround on Monday, he was listed as questionable on the injury report but battled through to be on the court.
According to the best online betting sites, Boston are the title favorites once again and they’re priced at +225 to become the first back-to-back champions since Steph Curry and Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors.
Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard combine for 54 in the @celtics W!
☘️ JB: 29 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 4 3PM
☘️ PP: 25 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 5 3PM pic.twitter.com/hju5gLr36K— NBA (@NBA) December 3, 2024
Does the league have a back-to-back problem that needs addressing?
In the current schedule, NBA teams face an average of 15 back-to-back games per season – a number which has steadily increased over the last few years from 13.3 in 2022-23 and 14 in 2023-24.
Star players sitting out on one game of back-to-backs has become an alarming trend in recent times, which includes Embiid who has admitted he may never play in both games for the rest of his career.
Before the 2023-24 season started, the NBA introduced a revised player participation policy which attempted to attack this problem by imposing sanctions on teams whose star players missed high-profile games.
