Jaylen Brown won't attribute early-season success to Kyrie Irving's departure

Jaylen Brown is having a terrific season for the Boston Celtics in the early going. 

His success shouldn't surprise anyone, and he's wouldn't attribute his terrific start to Kyrie Irving's departure to the Brooklyn Nets. In fact, he wouldn't comment on the question, sort of.

At the shootaround Friday ahead of the Celtics' game in Denver, Brown was asked if he and teammate Jayson Tatum felt "freer" to play their style of basketball now that Irving is gone. 

Brown chuckled at the question.

“No comment. Next question," Brown said. 

Questions about the 2018-19 season, clearly, aren't the C's favorite -- probably a season they want to forget. 

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With Irving gone, the Kemba Walker-led C's have exceeded some expectations so far this season at 11-3. 

This season, Brown is averaging 18.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from beyond the arc. Through the 2018-19 campaign, the 23-year-old averaged 13 points, 1.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three-point range.

Brown seemingly has more of an opportunity to play his game this season, according to the stats, despite not directly saying so Friday. 

Don’t miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Nuggets, which tips off tonight at 8 ET with Celtics Pregame Live, then Mike & Scal have the call of the game at 9 p.m. You can also stream the game through the MyTeams App.

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