Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been at odds with NBA officials all season, and his teammates have his back.
That support grew stronger after Tuesday night’s 125-116 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, when Brown was ejected for only the second time in his 10-year career before halftime.
With less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Brown attempted to dribble out of a double-team from Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama. Castle extended his hands, causing Brown to tumble courtside and lose the ball. Officials didn’t call a foul, which pushed Brown to his breaking point. He approached officiating crew chief Tyler Ford and was issued a technical foul. From a distance, referee Suyash Mehta then assessed a second technical as Brown continued pleading his case, triggering an automatic ejection.
“I understand completely where Jaylen’s coming from,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “Absolutely. I got his back 100 percent. I think he was 100 percent right to be frustrated and to do what he did.”
Moments after leaving the floor at the Frost Bank Center, Brown took to social media, posting, “This the sh*t I be talking about” on X. He hasn’t shied away from criticizing the league’s officiating, even under the threat of fines, and this season in particular, he’s been especially outspoken about certain officials.
To start his postgame press conference, Mazzulla landed a pointed dig at Ford, pointing out that Mehta stepped in like a white knight with the whistle.
“Just give a ton of credit to my high school principal,” Mazzulla told reporters. “He had the balls to throw a student out. He didn’t leave it to the hall monitor.”
Mazzulla added: “He was a hell of a principal.”
From teammates and Mazzulla to a Celtics security guard, everyone tried to restrain Brown from reaching Mehta. Despite being on his side, they managed to de-escalate the situation, though it still left the team without its star for the final two quarters of a marquee road matchup against the second-best team in the Western Conference.
The optics alone made the decision absurd.
Mehta didn’t just hurt the Celtics by removing their best player — he also ruined the matchup fans came to see: Brown versus Wembanyama, battling until the final buzzer. By stepping in on Ford’s behalf, he took that away, which was an odd look. Superstars typically receive leniency that others don’t. It’s part of the game, and everyone accepts it. But with Brown, that leniency often seems inconsistent compared to players of his caliber.
At a time when load management and tanking dominate league storylines, Brown has done his part as a household everyday star. He’s missed just six of Boston’s 65 games and has performed at an MVP level for most of the season without Jayson Tatum. Therefore, he’s earned some leeway.
“I disagree with it,” Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “The NBA makes a big deal about prime-time games and stars playing and being available. He definitely got pushed. First tech, probably warranted — the emotions are high — but the second tech, you gotta understand it’s a national TV game between two of the best teams in the league. You make a big deal about stars playing, then you’re trigger-happy to throw somebody out of the game. So I disagree with it.”
In a pool report conducted by ESPN’s Michael Wright, Ford said Brown’s first technical foul was “for aggressively pointing and using profanity in response to the no-call,” while the second tech and ejection came because “he aggressively approached a game official while pointing and using profanity.” Regarding the no-call itself involving Castle, Ford said the officials observed no illegal contact.
Brown was up to eight points and seven assists when he received back-to-back technical fouls, with the Celtics holding a 51-49 lead over the Spurs.
Teammate Derrick White echoed the sentiments of Mazzulla and Tatum when asked in the locker room.
“I think he got fouled, too,” White told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “He definitely earned the first one. I thought the second one was bullsh*t, honestly.”
The Celtics tried to hold on without Brown, but Wembanyama’s 39-point double-double proved too much. San Antonio scored 67 points in the second half, leaving Boston scrambling. Tatum struggled, shooting 4-of-14 from three, and the bench — with the exception of Ron Harper Jr. — was largely ineffective. Harper’s career-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting was a bright spot, but it wasn’t enough to dig the Celtics out of their divot.
White still couldn’t wrap his head around tossing Brown in that spot.
“You can’t throw out a guy who’s done so much for us all year, and in a game like this, especially,” he told reporters. “How do you throw him out? I think that was ridiculous, and it was tough, obviously, to basically play the whole second half without him. I feel like for a lot of the game — I don’t know how much time was on the clock — but I thought that was ridiculous.”
Back on Jan. 10, when the Celtics hosted the Spurs at TD Garden, Brown was bold in vocalizing his criticisms of the officials, unconcerned about a potential fine from the league.
“I hope somebody could just pull up the clips, because it’s the same sh*t every time we play a good team,” Brown said after Boston’s loss. “It’s like, they refuse to make a call, and they call touch-fouls on the other end. That’s just extremely frustrating, bro.”
The NBA fined Brown $35,000 the following day for his comments.
