We still haven’t heard from Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens on why the organization was so motivated to trade superstar Jaylen Brown. But on Thursday night, Brown shared his side of the story on his Twitch live stream.
Nearly 30,000 concurrent viewers watched as Brown addressed the shocking deal that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George, two first-round draft picks, and two second-round picks. Unsurprisingly, Brown didn’t mince words as he spoke on the trade, the Celtics’ handling of the situation, and some of the media narratives that formed during the process.
Here’s everything you need to know from Brown’s candid stream:
“Boston packed me up”
Brown opened his stream by saying, “Boston packed me up, chat.” The 2024 NBA Finals MVP made that statement several times throughout the stream.
“You gotta smile at it. They packed me up. Sayonara buddy,” he said at one point.
Brown went on to read the statement that he posted to social media, which bid farewell to Boston while expressing excitement about his new chapter in Philly.
State your source
Brown’s beef with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is well-documented. This time, though, he took aim at FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd.
On Wednesday, Cowherd claimed that two NBA sources told him that Brown thinking he’s “the smartest guy in every room” is a “disease.”
“He suddenly thinks he’s the smartest guy in every room he’s in,” Cowherd said. “I’ve worked with people in the media. You get into a really bad space and you make a lot of money. Suddenly, you’re absolutely sure. You don’t wanna listen to your bosses. You don’t wanna listen to consultants. You don’t wanna listen to teammates.
“One executive told me this was always a little bit of Jaylen Brown’s personality: the smartest guy in the room. Live streaming, throwing it out there, and it’s just not a good space.”
Brown responded by saying it’s time to stop with the anonymous sources.
“I think the world craves authenticity… people wanna see what the real emotions is,” he said.
‘I’m tired of these damn anonymous sources, like, anonymous executive — Colin Cowherd, Bobby Marks, Stephen A. Smith — I think y’all are the sources.”
“Colin Cowherd…. his last name precedes him,” Brown added.
What happened with Celtics?
Brown isn’t sure exactly where things went wrong between him and the Celtics.
“There’s definitely more to it. I just wish the more to it could have been explained to me,” he said on the stream.
“At one point I felt it was fine, but then it went left … I wish they had the respect to tell me exactly what it was … but it didn’t go down like that. It wasn’t facilitated like that. That was the most disappointing part. I thought I earned respect.”
Brown “wasn’t thrilled” with how Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens communicated with him about the situation.
Brown added that some of the young guys on the C’s reached out to him.
“The guys that I was able to build with … Neemi, (Neemias Queta), Luka (Garza), told me it was a pleasure to build with you. That’s the stuff that gives you more motivation to keep going. …
Looking forward to Philly
Brown admitted it’ll take time to get used to being a 76er, but he’s looking forward to “the process.”
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been programmed to hate Philadelphia, from the history of the rivalry to the playoff battles, the process, like I’ve been programmed to be like f— the process. It’s funny now, I gotta reverse-engineer it, but I’ll be ready when the season starts.”
“I don’t want no special treatment, I don’t need no handouts,” he added. “I plan on earning my respect one day at a time by putting in the work. I’m looking forward to getting in the gym, the whole process. “
While he’s left confused about how everything went down, it sounds like Brown will embrace the villain role in Philadelphia.
“The process is back the f— on. We’ve been shutting the process down for the last I don’t know how many years. The process been over. But now the process is back, motherf—–.”
Toward the end of his stream, Brown spoke on the phone with new teammates VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey.
