Celtics fans just got the Jaylen Brown announcement they've been waiting for

As soon as the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, all four regular-season matchups between the historic rivals became appointment viewing. Fans on both sides aren’t going to want to miss a second of the action this season, especially now that LeBron James is involved, too.

On Thursday, the NBA finally revealed which dates the quartet of showdowns would be on. The schedule is as follows:

• Celtics @ 76ers: Nov. 10, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBC
• Celtics vs. 76ers Jan. 27, 2027 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Prime
• Celtics @ 76ers Feb. 7, 2027 at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC
• Celtics vs. 76ers Mar. 7, 2027 at 1:00 p.m. ET on ABC

Celtics vs. 76ers will be cinema

The big one, of course, is Brown’s return to Boston. Fans have largely been thinking about this game for the past month and the sort of reception the 2024 NBA Finals MVP will receive when hits the parquet for the first time in Sixers’ blue.

It should be an awesome day, though. The hoops will be intense and full of action, plus all the fanfare of a hero’s welcome. Brown’s inevitable tribute video will be special, and he’ll undoubtedly get a second standing ovation when he’s presumably honored as one of the Celtics’ “Heroes Among Us” for all of his great work in the Boston community -- the only thing he really seemed to reminisce about during his time with the Celtics when speaking to the Philly media last week.

"I look back at the city of Boston and I'm grateful,” he shared when prompted on his Celtics tenure.” I've been able to develop as a man, as a human being there, spend a lot of time in the community, a lot of time at universities studying and learning, figuring out how to approach how I wanted to go about my philanthropy, figure out how I wanted to approach, how to carry myself.”

His lack of mention of the organization tells you all you need to know about how things ended.

One of the underrated aspects of a player switching sides of a rivalry is when the new fanbase is met with its first opportunity to back their new star against his former team. I have a random memory of Kyrie Irving’s first game against LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. There was a special buzz in TD Garden when Irving had the chance to go at his former teammate and eventually score on him.

You’d have to imagine we’re due for a similar moment when the Celtics head down to Philadelphia for the first time this year. The passionate 76ers fans already love to root against Jayson Tatum anyway. They’ll relish the opportunity to back his former running mate, for sure.

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