Joe Mazzulla on Jaylen Brown trade: 'There needs to be a grieving process'

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As Derrick White and Jordan Walsh went through a workout on one of the Cox Pavilion courts Saturday morning, head coach Joe Mazzulla detailed the respect he has for Brown, what Boston will miss most about him and the need to create a new path forward without him. After 10 highly successful seasons with Brown, Boston will take on a different look with Paul George, Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley now on the roster. “There needs to be a grieving process for losing not just a player in Jaylen, but a person in Jaylen,” Mazzulla said in an interview with The Athletic. “There needs to be a grieving process that this guy, what he has done on the court and what he’s done in the community and what he’s done for the city of Boston, there should be a grieving process. But the … gray area is throughout that loss, you’re also gaining.”

New York Times

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Hugo Gonzalez shared the floor with Jaylen Brown for just one season, but frequently lauded the impact the 5-time All-Star had on him. On Thursday, he shared his gratitude for the overlapping year he shared with Brown. "Jaylen is a Celtics legend, and everybody, [starting with me], is really, really grateful because of the things he has done," Gonzalez said. "Especially for me, he has been an amazing veteran player. He's been a leader for me. He's been a role model. Everybody here is grateful for him." — 7/11/2026 Yahoo! Sports

Derrick White was home with his wife when he found out that Jaylen Brown, one of his longest-tenured teammates, had been traded. “It’s tough to see someone get traded, and JB’s been an amazing teammate, amazing friend to me, and kind of welcomed me when I got traded to Boston,” he said. “So I’m always thankful for my time that I spent with JB, and it’s obviously always tough to get traded, and I know how that feels.” White said he reached out to Brown soon after the trade with a simple message: “Thank you for everything you did for me.” — 7/11/2026 Celtics Blog

Bobby Krivitsky: I asked Derrick White about how he’s processing the Jaylen Brown trade, both in terms of their relationship and what this means for his role or what the Celtics will need from him going forward. “Tell him thank you for everything he did for me, and just know how much he means to me.”trade, both in terms of their relationship and what this means for his role or what the Celtics will need from him going forward. “Tell him thank you for everything he did for me, and just know how much he means to — 7/11/2026 x.com

Neemias Queta, who has been teammates with Brown for three years, also spoke to reporters on Friday night for the first time since the trade. “It’s not easy,” Queta said. “I think you feel for him. Obviously, it wasn’t easy for him as well. But at the end of the day, it’s part of the business. You know what’s happening. You know it can happen at any moment. But Jaylen’s a guy that you can’t replace in the city. Really, really hard to replace on the court as well. He did so much for Boston in general, and he will definitely be missed.” — 7/11/2026 Celtics Blog

IShowSpeed: "You going to Philly? You going to tell them to pick me up, bro?" Jaylen Brown: "That's a crazy business, bro. Don't become a basketball player. There's no loyalty." IShowSpeed: "What happened? You just got traded?" Jaylen Brown: "That's a good question. I think a lot of people want to hear that. I don't know. I just got packed up." — 7/10/2026 YouTube

Jaylen Brown: "LeBron is going to make his decision soon, so we got to recruit him." IShowSpeed: "Where do you think LeBron going?" Jaylen Brown: "He's going to Philly, bro. He's going to Philly trying to get a ring." — 7/10/2026 YouTube

More than anything, Mazzulla credits the five-time All-Star for making him better. Speaking to a group of reporters just a few minutes earlier for the first time since the trade, Mazzulla shared how difficult the trade was and stressed that Brown made him a better coach: “I know that for a fact.” “Something like that is going to be difficult,“ Mazzulla said. “But I think if you could just get through it and act as if nothing happened, then that’s when I think that you’re not in it for the right reasons.” As we later sat on the gymnasium sidelines, I asked Mazzulla to elaborate on the notion that Brown made him better. “The biggest thing was just his competitiveness,” Mazzulla said. “He wasn’t afraid to push you. That was for teammates. That was for me. That was for people. He wasn’t afraid to hold you accountable to a higher standard. And when you have the opportunity to coach guys like that, it just makes you better.” — 7/10/2026 Celtics Blog

"A lot of people are saying they didn't get enough, or whatever, but nowadays in this NBA, this is a business, they're trying to make their business become a better business, and without a lot of problems, and that's what they're doing," said Payton. "You're getting a lot of young kids now in these drafts that's coming up, so if you get four and five and six picks, you're gonna build around that, and that's what it is. You see how Oklahoma did it, they built around picks, you know what I'm saying, and they made a dynasty, they went out and got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Clippers, and stuff like that. And then they built around him, and look what happened. They won a championship last year. They were hurt this year and they didn't go to the championship, but that's just the way things go. — 7/10/2026 Action Network

The trade featuring Brown wasn't shocking considering the Celtics had made him the main piece in talks with the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. What was shocking was the fact that they traded him to an Eastern Conference rival for no young pieces in return, instead acquiring a 36-year-old George on a salary that earns him over $50 million. "I think the relationship just got out of hand," said Payton of why the Celtics abruptly traded Brown to the Sixers. "I think it was what it was, a relationship that couldn't be fixed, as you've seen it. It kept going and going in the media, and that relationship can't be fixed. You cannot keep talking about trading somebody and doing things, and then all of a sudden you come back and he comes back to your team, it's not going to be a good relationship. I think they did the right move, they had to make the move and do the moves they made." — 7/10/2026 Action Network

The former NBA Finals MVP and five-time All-Star was shockingly traded to the Boston Celtics' division rival — and team that beat them in the playoffs — in a deal that featured multiple draft picks and Paul George going to the Celtics. Payton said the deal swings the shift in power to the Eastern Conference and makes the Sixers the top threat to the New York Knicks — who are the defending NBA Champs — for Eastern Conference supremacy. "Yes, that places them right there, especially with Tyrese Maxey," said Payton in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his new organic hemp rolling papers through the RAW brand. "We have to get him to be healthy. He's never been healthy, so you got to get him healthy. And then with that young guard that just came up, the one they just drafted last year, the rookie (V.J. Edgecombe) he is a very, very exciting basketball player. They have four players that can play, and in that East, all you need is to have four players to play. You've seen Philly, what they did this year in the playoffs, and they just ran out of steam. Now you add Jaylen Brown, who is going to be there, I think the whole season where he's going to play, it's going to make it a problem for a lot of people in the East, and that Philly team is going to be somebody to reckon with." — 7/10/2026 Action Network

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Joe Mazzulla on Jaylen Brown trade: 'There needs to be a grieving process'

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