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NBA Communications: Boston Celtics guard-forward Jaylen Brown has been fined $50,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced today by James Jones, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. Brown made his comments on a livestream on May 3 following the Celtics' 109-100 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series on May 2 at TD Garden.
NBA Communications: Game 7 of the 76ers/Celtics series on May 2 averaged 11 million viewers on NBC/Peacock – the most-watched first-round Game 7 ever and the most-watched first-round game in 27 years. The first round of the NBA Playoffs was the most-viewed in 33 years, averaging 4 million viewers per game across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBC/Peacock.
Joe Mazzulla is expected to remain the Celtics' head coach despite blowing a 3-1 lead to the 76ers.
Draymond Green: “The big question is: what’s next for this Boston team? Is it the end of the Jaylen Brown–Jayson Tatum era? I would say no. I don’t think it’s the end of their era. Look at the success they had this year with Jayson Tatum out most of the year, and then with Jayson Tatum coming back and them having success, ultimately getting ahead to a 3-1 lead. Obviously, they squandered the lead away, but you got right where you wanted to be.
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Jaylen Brown has mentioned he’s a big fan of your game. Looking at it from the other side, what is it about Jaylen’s style of play that you respect the most? Lu Dort: [Smiling] Jaylen Brown for real? As a scorer, he’s “on go” every single time. He doesn’t shy away from any type of contact. He’s going downhill no matter what and that’s just the type of player he is—physical and aggressive. With guys like that, you have to tip your hat because he’s always going to make tough shots. The fact that he’s doing it on both ends—being aggressive offensively and defensively and taking on those tough matchups—I have a LOT of respect for that.
Speaking on Sirius XM’s “Deals and Dunks” on Monday, NBA insider Marc Stein tabbed the Celtics as a team that could be in the running for the two-time MVP if the Bucks opt to move him after a disappointing 2025-26 season. “Because they’ve created this [cap] flexibility for themselves when it looked like it was gonna be really hard to do so — I feel like they’re gonna be able to make moves,” Stein said of the Celtics. “There will inevitably be people who bring back the, ‘Do they break up Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown’ — like, that storyline will probably come back. “There have been some rumblings at various points during the season that the Celtics could be a stealth Giannis team and a team that potentially interests Giannis. So let’s keep our eye on the Celtics. We know Brad Stevens is not afraid to make big moves and take big swings. So I think we have to be ready for just about anything with Boston.”
"Every good basketball player does this. What are y'all talking about? They clearly had an agenda," Brown said. "If Jaylen does this move, call the offensive foul and follow him every time. I don't know if it's because I pissed the refs off. I've been critical about them, and I called them out a bunch of times. So, they were like, 'You know what, I got you in the playoffs. Watch this.' [Because] that's exactly what they did. "It's clearly an agenda. Look at the same move. Some referees that if I had to choose, if I had to, like, say there's some referees that need to be investigated. We had three of them in the last three games."
Jaylen Brown: “You know how many players do that? That is such the common basketball play. Every player does it. So why are you targeting me? It clearly had an agenda. Maybe because I had spoken, I was critical of the refs in the regular season. So, you know, how they responded: like, ‘We’re going to call every—we’re going to—you’re going to lead the playoffs in offensive fouls.’ That was the response from the officiating crew. You could clearly tell. And I actually spoke to some refs, and they said it was an agenda going into each game. So, anytime Jaylen brings his arm up, just from reputation, just call it. Paul George does the same thing. Jalen Brunson does the same thing. I can go down the list.”
Jaylen Brown: “He’s one of the best bigs in the world, if not the best when healthy, and he’s a former MVP. And he came back and changed the series because we was up 3–1 without him. He comes back, and we lose the next three. We lose the next three games once he kind of starts figuring it out. If we would have had a little bit more, if we could bang with him a little bit more personnel-wise and not give him so many easy baskets, it would have been a little different for us.
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Jaylen Brown: “But he came and did what he was supposed to do. He dominated, and we lost. So, credit to the 76ers, credit to Joel Embiid. I still think he flopped entirely way too much. Some of y’all don’t even know what flopping is in the chat. Like, some of y’all clearly don’t know basketball. Y’all don’t know what flopping is. Flopping is exaggerating contact that’s already there. It’s not about drawing contact or drawing fouls. Nobody has a problem with drawing fouls. That’s a part of the game. Use your brains. That’s the thing about this basketball era where y’all have turned your brains off and just look at analytics. I have no idea what y’all talking about. Drawing fouls is fine.”
Jaylen Brown: “You know what I mean? This is my personal opinion on basketball. Some of y’all might disagree, but argue with your grandma. Flopping has ruined our game. Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in basketball history. Flops. He knows it. This ain’t breaking news. That’s just my opinion. I’m not the only one that had that opinion. Some of y’all are going to be mad about that opinion. Some of y’all can kiss my ass.”
Jaylen Brown: “That’s how you know people be watching my stream. That’s how you know Joel Embiid was sitting there at home, eating chocolate chip cookies, watching my stream, and he was like, ‘You know what? When I come back, I’m going to show these guys.’ Because I ain’t never seen him that dominant. He was dominant from a physical standpoint, passing the ball. Obviously, he’s been more athletic in the past, but I give him credit. He came out, and he made a difference in this series. No question.”
Jaylen Brown: “Honestly, this was the most fun season I’ve ever had in basketball, personally. The uncertainty of going into the season, the uncertainty of going into every game, having to fight for every win did something emotionally, I feel like, for all of us. We became more together. We had to fight, and we had to play with passion every single night. And we did.”