Jaylen Brown didn’t wait very long before speaking up.
Within 24 hours of being traded by the Boston Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers, Brown returned to his FCHWPO Twitch stream and opened up on Thursday night. From the trade itself to Celtics teammates to his experience in Boston over the last 10 years, Brown offered his transparency once again on his livestream.
Following a decade-long run that included a championship, two trips to the NBA Finals, and six trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, Brown’s time in Boston is officially over. The Celtics acquired Paul George, two first-round draft picks, and two second-round selections from Philadelphia in exchange for Brown, intensifying the anticipation for his next stream.
Here’s everything he touched on:
The trade
Brown didn’t get into the details behind the trade, but did offer a brief assessment of how the entire process went down from his perspective. Reports, both from Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, claimed Brown never approached the Celtics and requested a trade this offseason — leaving plenty of room for speculation.
Tapped into the online space, Brown also acknowledged the pushback that Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has faced, and will likely continue to face, in the aftermath of the trade.
“I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of respect I was shown during this process,” Brown said. “I think there was a bit of a lack of respect. I think it was fine at one point, and then out of nowhere, things just kind of went left. I think Brad is probably getting a lot of the criticism. I wasn’t thrilled the way he facilitated some of the conversations.”
Brown, however, noted his belief that there are surrounding details behind the trade he’s still unaware of, claiming “there’s more to it,” several times on stream.
“I just wish that the more to it could’ve been explained to me. Because if the more to it was explained to me, I think I would’ve understood. I thought I earned respect enough to get that explanation, but obviously I was wrong. Hey, but that’s life. We move on.”
Stevens helped introduce Brown to the NBA as then-head coach of the Celtics back in 2016, when Boston selected him third overall in the draft. Stevens coached Brown through the first five seasons of his career.
Communication with now-former Celtics teammates following the trade
Several members of last season’s Celtics reached out to Brown after hearing about the trade.
Brown was contacted by various youngsters, labeled “unproven” by Stevens during last year’s media day and ahead of the regular season. Brown expressed his gratitude for their words.
“I’ve already talked to some of the guys,” Brown revealed. “Some of the guys have already reached out from the Celtics and stuff like that. Some of the young guys, so I appreciate them. Because it was an honor this year. It still was my favorite season so far.”
For the first time in his career, Brown got a look at the driver’s seat as the undisputed No. 1. It was additionally challenging after Celtics ownership and the front office tore apart its previously-star-studded roster by moving on from pieces such as Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford. But Brown never wavered.
Instead, he took the challenge head-on and elevated himself, the team, and a handful of guys in Boston’s locker room — several of whom made sure to let Brown know what his efforts meant to them.
“The guys that I was able to build with, those guys that reached out to me, just told me — Neemy (Queta), Luka (Garza), all those guys told me ‘It was a pleasure to play with you, and I appreciate everything that you helped with.’ So that’s the stuff that gives you more motivation to keep going. So I’m grateful, and it was a pleasure. If this was my last year as a Celtic, this was an awesome year.”
FS1’s Colin Cowherd’s “smartest guy in the room” comment
FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd said league sources relayed intel to him regarding Brown, suggesting the 29-year-old has a “smartest guy in every room he’s in” complex comparable to a “disease.”
“One executive told me this was always a little bit of Jaylen Brown’s personality,” Cowherd reported. “Kind of the smartest guy in the room, and livestreaming and throwing it out there — that’s just not a good space. It used to be nothing good happens at three in the morning. Nothing good happens when pro athletes stream.”
In response, Brown cleared the air on that very perception.
“Personally, I think intelligence is relative,” Brown clarified. “There’s different forms of what intelligence looks like — creative, divergence, there’s being able to adapt. There’s so many different forms of intelligence. Whatever you value is whatever you value. I never told nobody, ‘Look, I’m the smartest person in the room.’ That may be how they took it.”
While attending the University of California, Berkeley, during his lone collegiate season, Brown took graduate-level courses before receiving an internship opportunity at NASA. Even as a professional athlete, Brown remained invested in education. He became the youngest person ever to give a lecture at Harvard University, then served as a Director’s Fellow at the MIT Media Lab during his time in Boston.
In the most humble way possible, Brown felt the need to “keep it buck” when it came to this topic Cowherd brought to light.
“In sports, no offense to everybody in sports, but the bar is f*cking low. The bar isn’t that high, so I think that’s what people need to take into consideration.”
Community initiatives in Boston
One of the most difficult parts of bidding Brown farewell from Boston is what he meant off the court.
Brown made himself accessible to the city. He turned himself into a Bostonian, and it wasn’t just because of his talent as a basketball player. He visited schools, offered a voice to the disadvantaged communities, and backed up his social advocacy after signing a $304 million supermax contract, investing in Boston’s entrepreneurship and education — aimed at tackling the racial wealth disparity gap.
He launched his nonprofit, Boston XChange, shortly after signing the deal and ensured those efforts won’t be leaving the city, even as he moves on to Philadelphia.
“I appreciate all the fans. I appreciate all the supporters. The family that I’ve met in the city of Boston. I still got obligations here. I got Bridge coming up. I’ll be here. This week, I’ll be doing some community stuff that I still am committed to, and I look forward to doing more stuff with Boston XChange, with the 7uice Foundation, empowering the entrepreneurs in the city, which I already have started. We’re gonna continue to do that.”
Brown credited his grandmother, Dianne Varnado, for his deep involvement as a community leader.
“I’m a community guy. I got that from my grandmother. My grandmother taught me how to just dive into the community — she was a social worker, so it’s just in me.”
Brown added: “To the community of Boston, I will never forget the years. I grew up here. I’m 29 years old. I’ll be 30. I spent a third of my life here. So, I’m looking forward to what’s next, but I’m also appreciative of the past, and the people that I’ve met, and the community. I love you.”
Message to Philadelphia
Brown made sure to reserve time for those in Philadelphia.
Suiting up for a different team for the first time in his career, Brown says he’s ready to embrace Sixers culture next.
“I’m excited for what’s to come next,” Brown said. “It’s bittersweet. I think Philadelphia has a history of being a strong city, being a tough-nosed city. So I’m looking forward to that because I don’t want no special treatment. I don’t want no handouts. I don’t need no extra privilege. Not to say y’all were gonna give me that anyway, but I plan on earning my respect one day at a time by putting in the work.”
Brown has faced the Sixers in 57 total games throughout his Celtics tenure, which included four postseason run-ins. He was a vital part of the Boston-Philadelphia rivalry, frequently going at it with Sixers star center Joel Embiid on the court. So the change of scenery will take a little getting used to, Brown admitted.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been programmed to hate Philadelphia. From the history to the history of the rivalry to the playoff battles, all of the above, the process. I’ve been programmed to be like, ‘Man, f*ck the process,’ so it’s funny now I gotta reverse engineer. That’s the part that’s gonna take some time, but I’ll be ready to go.”
