Jaylen Brown, Celtics reminded basketball is secondary after home break-ins

Brown’s mother and Celtics assistant coach Amile Jefferson were both victims of home break-ins this past week, and the Celtics’ reflected on the emotional toll of the incidents after loss to Bulls.

BOSTON — On Sunday, with the Celtics in Washington DC to face the Wizards, Jaylen Brown’s mother was the victim of a home break-in. On that same day, assistant coach Amile Jefferson’s home was also broken into — and his 2024 NBA championship ring was stolen.

Players made clear the incidents, and their aftermath, have taken a psychological toll. Brown missed practice on Tuesday to spend time with his mom, and after Thursday’s uncharacteristic Celtics’ loss to the Bulls, he admitted it had been an emotionally challenging couple of days.

“It’s been a tough week,” Brown said. “Obviously, my mother’s security is of utmost importance to me, and that’s been compromised — so it’s been a tough week. We’ve had media members and reporters outside our house trying to get an inside scoop. Like, have some respect.”

Brown acknowledged that his mother — who was in the home at the time of the break-in — was physically unharmed and that nothing directly threatening occurred.

“But the fact that it could have just kind of lingers in your mind,” he said.

The incidents are the latest in a string of burglaries that high-profile athletes across the nation have faced — a growing list includes Bucks forward Bobby Portis, Timberwolves guard Mike Conley, Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

The increased crimes led the NFL and NBA to both share memos with players about taking safety precautions, with the FBI connecting some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices” per the Associated Press.

The memo said the burglars are mostly after “cash and items that can be resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags.”

While nothing was taken out of Brown’s mother’s home, in Amile Jefferson’s case, the lucrative championship ring was stolen.

Before the game, Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics were working to psychologically support all affected parties, as well as to educate players and staff about precautionary steps they can take.

“Obviously when something like that happens, you’re much more heightened to the awareness,” Mazzulla said. “So just being educated on all the small steps you can take. A lot of it’s out of your control, but there are things that you can do.

“Whether it’s been our front office, whether it’s been the security team, whether it’s been local police departments, they’ve done a good job educating us on how we can get better. But the most important thing is making sure the families and people involved are as comfortable and safe as they can be, and not just safe from the standpoint of their homes, but psychologically as well.”

Mazzulla said the unfortunate incidents created a chance for him and the organization to demonstrate support and solidarity on a human level.

“When you have opportunities like this to make things bigger than basketball, to be there for people, you try to take advantage of that,” Mazzulla said. “I just hope that they know that we’re there for them.”

“They’re healthy, which is good, so they’re safe,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a scary thing for people. You see it happen around different sports, so you’re obviously aware of it. If it happens to you, you have an understanding of the risk there. We’re just happy that they’re safe.”

Jayson Tatum reiterated that the whole experience served as a reminder that basketball is secondary to family and life.

“It really puts things in perspective,” Tatum said. “Obviously, everybody’s family is most important, more important than any game that we’ll play. So I can only imagine how tough that is to have it on your mind and still try to come out here and do your job at a high level. Just being there for him in any way that we can and knowing that we’re all in this together.”

Brown made clear the incident had shifted his perspective, but declined to elaborate on what he meant.

“To go through that experience and people still in there, still in the crib and stuff like that, it just makes you think about some things differently,” Brown said.