For Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, Friday night’s game was no ordinary evening.
It wasn’t because it was against a franchise that’s beat up on opponents for the better part of five years (and the Celtics have fared comparatively well against that team — the Golden State Warriors — anyways).
Nor was it because the team is riding an NBA-best 10-game winning streak atop the league’s best record, either. For Brown, it was personal.
Two years ago, Jaylen faced the same team on the road, just hours removed from the death of his best friend, Trevor Steede.
Steed, who befriended Brown when he transferred into the former’s school to play basketball (possibly stealing Steede’s spot on their school’s roster), tragically took his own life ahead of that Dubs matchup two years past.
“It was hard getting my thoughts together, but after talking to his mom and his family, they inspired me to come out and play,” explained the Georgia native after that game.
“I wasn’t in any shape to come out. I didn’t want to leave my room. But they inspired me to come out and play. And I came out and played in his spirit today. My teammates held me up and we pulled it out.”
After two rotations around the sun, Steed’s memory remains with Brown and carried him through one of the uglier tilt’s of Boston’s young season.
“I had all the confidence in the world today,” Brown offered (via NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakeley) after last night’s victory. “Today is the sunset of my best friend.”
Brown, at times, seemed bullet-proof to the chaos churning around him, pointing to the sky, presumably in Trevor’s memory, when he scored 22 points. Incidentally, Steede’s age when he passed and, odder still, the jersey number he wore for the team Brown likely forced his cut from.
“It was great for me to be able to score 22 points tonight,” Brown added, hinting at the connection.
Brown also left a commemorative message on his sneakers for Steede, reading “R.I.P. TLS”.
Energy is 4ever Rest In Peace #22 pic.twitter.com/yJb1Icr5ya
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) November 16, 2019
For Brown, being able to pull out a win on the anniversary of one of his most difficult games of his career must have been heartening, and a great way to honor his friend.
Teammate Marcus Smart, no stranger to loss himself, recognizes the importance of holding those we have lost close to our heart in the present.
“If you don’t talk about them out loud, that’s when they really die,” he told the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach last year, soon after his mother Camelia’s passing. “So I just try to talk about her as much as I can, talk to her when I’m alone, and just never forget that she’s always here in spirit and always here in my heart.”
Perhaps Steede was there with the fourth-year guard as well, smiling when Brown pointed to the heavens as he helped will the Celtics to a win.
But it was his memory that truly mattered last night, at least for Jaylen.