Jaylen Brown decided it was time to switch things up.
Following a slow start to Game 4 of Boston's first-round series with Atlanta, Brown removed the black mask he had been sporting for months because he "needed a different look." He went on to have one of his highest-scoring games of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, so it wouldn't have been a surprise if he decided to go maskless the rest of the postseason.
Instead, Brown brought it back for Game 5 and has been wearing it since.
Why did Brown start wearing a mask in the first place and why does he continue to wear it?
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Why does Jaylen Brown wear a mask?
Brown suffered a facial injury during Boston's win over Philadelphia on Feb. 8.
The injury occurred late in the second quarter. Brown collided with Jayson Tatum while pursuing his own missed 3-pointer and immediately fell to the ground while holding his face.
The Celtics ruled Brown out for the remainder of the game with a facial contusion. It later was reported that he suffered a facial fracture and would "miss some time."
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum collide towards the end of the half and JB heads to the locker room #PHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/Kf1Yn0Z7pO
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 9, 2023
Brown was sidelined for four straight games with the injury. He wore a mask upon his return on Feb. 23 to protect his face.
“It’s pretty thick," Brown said of the mask postgame. "Sometimes it gets a little hot on your face. I felt protected. I didn’t shy away from contact. I didn’t feel like I had to alter my game a little or anything like that.
"It’s a little uncomfortable at times and then sometimes you have to get your head around to make sure you see everything, somebody coming from behind or somebody’s in your side view. But just be able to make those adjustments, got to keep your head up and see the floor.”
The mask didn't seem to impact Brown much once he got used to it. In the 19 regular season games he played with it, he averaged 27.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists on .500/.347/.720 shooting splits.
Why Jaylen Brown still wears his mask
When Brown was asked more than a month after he first suffered the injury why he was still using the mask, he said his injury wasn't completely healed and his mom wanted him to keep wearing it.
"I think it's not fully healed," Brown said. "I think what they said, like, you got like six weeks until the cartilage starts to grow back so you're, I guess, safe if you were to take another hit. But you still got like another six weeks before I guess it fully gets back to where it is or where it's supposed to be.
"So I guess technically, I got like a couple more days or I don't have to wear it anymore if I didn't want to. But if you wanna be safe, they say, you keep wearing it. My mom wants me to wear it, so I'll probably keep wearing it."
Brown then told Celtics radio analyst Cedric Maxwell during the 2023 NBA Playoffs that he could need surgery if he was hit in his face again, which is why he brought it back for Game 5 against the Hawks.
