Jaylen Brown discusses the team’s mindset during the first few days of training camp. The Brown says interim head coach Joe Mazzulla and the team are setting a high standard from Day 1 and holding each other accountable.
Amid all of the outside distractions surrounding the Boston Celtics, their star players are back to doing what they love.
The Celtics held their second training camp practice Wednesday at the Auerbach Center in Brighton. And taking center stage were Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who spent significant time going at each other in one-on-one battles.
While other Celtics -- including Payton Pritchard and Brodric Thomas -- rotated through the "King of the Court" session, Tatum and Brown were the two main attractions, and they didn't disappoint.
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Forsberg: Jaylen found unique motivation to fuel his summer workouts
Our Chris Forsberg was on hand at the Auerbach Center to document the Celtics' two young spars sparring with each other and their teammates.
Here's a close-up of Tatum and Brown getting playfully physical before Tatum puts the clamps on his co-star:
The whole session lasted nearly an hour, according to Forsberg. Aside from the entertainment value to spectators, Brown said there's plenty for the players to gain from one-on-ones.
"Just getting some rust off, getting more polished in your hand-to-hand combat-type stuff," Brown told reporters after practice, via Forsberg. "Working on guarding your yard defensively and stuff like that, the little in between details of the game. Nothing but just a good workout, some cardio.
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"Iron sharpens iron, so just trying to make each other better."
If the Celtics want to return to the NBA Finals under interim head coach Joe Mazzulla and move past Ime Udoka's season-long suspension, they'll need to lean heavily on Tatum and Brown. Both made significant strides as leaders and playmakers last season, but they'll be under the spotlight in 2022-23 with Boston pegged as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
So, how Tatum and Brown get better in Years 6 and 7 of the NBA careers, respectively? Brown told Forsberg he wants Tatum to be more vocal -- and it sounds like Tatum is already embracing that challenge.
"It was pretty even today," Brown said of who had the upper hand in Wednesday's one-on-one battles. "JT won some games, Payton won some games, so I thought it was pretty balanced.
"But those two probably talked the most."