Boston Celtics
“When I first got traded, I just threw my phone across the room.”
Jaylen Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to the media at Francis J. Myers Recreation Center on August 6, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
August 6, 2026 | 5:31 PM
6 minutes to read
Former Celtics star and current Philadelphia 76ers wing Jaylen Brown held his first press conference as a member of the Sixers on Thursday. The 2024 NBA Finals MVP touched on several topics, including his shocking trade from Boston and his relationship with Jayson Tatum.
Here are five takeaways from his meeting with the media:
A painful realization
Brown was no stranger to hearing himself mentioned in trade rumors during his 10 years with the Celtics, especially during this current offseason.
Still, Brown was candid when asked about his initial reaction after he finally received word that his time with the Celtics was coming to a close.
“I’m not even sure,” Brown replied when asked who was the first 76ers player to reach out to him. “When I first got traded, I just threw my phone across the room. I think [Tyrese] Maxey reached out to me first.
“He reached out and was like, ‘I know there’s a lot of stuff going on right now. But we’re excited to have you.’ Maxey and V.J. [Edgecombe] [reached out] around the same time.”
While Brown is set to join a stacked 76ers roster that already features Maxey, Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, and LeBron James, he noted that the last month has been a whirlwind — one that will take plenty of time to adjust to fully.
“It’s been a lot of emotions,” Brown said. “It’s been a process, to be honest I’m still processing, to some degree, one, the excitement of coming to a new city, new place, new expectations, new energy; then, also, leaving a place you’ve been for a very, very long time.
“I’ve been in Boston for 10 years … I was there a third of my life. “It’s just a process, just like everybody else has to deal with certain things.”
Brown hasn’t talked with Jayson Tatum
Brown’s relationship with Tatum, his longtime Celtics teammate, has been put under a microscope since last month’s trade.
While both Brown and Tatum helped usher in one of the most fruitful chapters of the Celtics’ storied history, that chemistry on the hardwood seemingly didn’t translate away from the game of basketball.
According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, both Tatum and Brown had a “nonexistent” personal relationship off the parquet floor.
On Thursday, Brown was asked if he had talked with Tatum since the trade.
“Not really,” he replied.
Still, Brown saluted Tatum — acknowledging that the duo wouldn’t have been able to win a title without one another.
“We won a championship together, so, anybody that you win a championship [with], you would think, like, that’s what a brotherhood or a lifelong legacy would entail,” Brown said. “Obviously, there’s ups and downs in any type of relationship, but on my end, there’s nothing but respect. Besides when he plays the Sixers, I hope he does well. But other than that, everything for me is just based on respect.”
A painful “process”
It didn’t take very long for Brown to share his thoughts on the Celtics’ decision to trade him after a season where he earned All-NBA Second Team honors and led Boston to 56 wins.
Speaking on Twitch just a day after that blockbuster deal went down, Brown was blunt about how Boston handled the end of his 10-year run with the franchise.
“The message was received,” Brown said of Boston’s efforts to deal him. “I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of respect that was shown throughout this process. I think there was a bit of a lack of respect. I think it was fine at one point, then out of nowhere, things just went left. I think Brad [Stevens] is getting a lot of the criticism. I wasn’t thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations.”
Jaylen Brown on Twitch:
“Brad is probably getting a lot of the criticism (for the trade). I wasn’t thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations. But, I definitely think there’s more to it. I just wish that the more to it could’ve been explained to me.” pic.twitter.com/eQ1tx2RV5N
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) July 3, 2026
Brown was asked a follow-up on those comments Thursday, specifically about what the Celtics did in the lead-up to that trade that rankled him.
“The whole process [bothered me],” Brown said. “But, to be honest, I don’t even … my mind is so focused on what’s in front of me. To be honest, I’m moving on.
“Maybe one day, we’ll share the details of how everything transpired and all the moving parts that took place in this. Obviously, it’s a lot of speculation; I feel no need to chime in on it because I’m focused on what’s in front of me.”
Saluting Boston
Brown will now look to dole out misery against the Celtics as a key cog on one of Boston’s most-hated rivals in the Atlantic Division.
But, the 30-year-old star wing stressed that he still has plenty of love and affinity for Boston — a city where he played for a decade and helped win a title in 2024.
“I look back at the city of Boston and I’m grateful,” Brown said. “I’ve been able to develop as a man, as a human being there. Spent a lot of time in the community, spent a lot of time at universities studying, learning, figuring out how to approach how I wanted to go about my philanthropy, figure out how I wanted to approach how to carry myself.
“A lot of my most important years, my most developmental years as a young man, I spent in Boston. I got there at 19; I didn’t do a four-year degree because I left early. I got my degree in Boston, in a sense. The relationships are still there, the connections are still there. I’m looking forward to continuing my foundation work, as well as expanding it here to Philadelphia, but I’m very grateful for my experience, my tenure in Boston.
“Ten years is a perfect cycle, a perfect number for completion. We won a championship, and I have nothing but respect for the city of Boston, but now it’s time to move forward.”
High expectations in Boston
After adding both Brown and James to an already impressive roster, the Sixers are viewed as one of the top contenders in the NBA entering the 2026-27 season — with Philly standing as the top challenger in the Eastern Conference to the reigning NBA champion Knicks.
That means plenty of pressure on the likes of Brown, James, and Embiid to get the Sixers over the hump and win the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983.
“On paper, we’re excellent. We have a lot of talent compared to other teams in the league,” Brown said. “But I’ve been around a long time. Long enough to know that just what you have on paper doesn’t really mean nothing. It can, if you put the work in. But also, if you allow distractions, if you allow the media to get into your locker room, if you allow certain things and the personalities don’t work, it can be a detriment.
“So I’m aware that it could go either way. It just takes the amount of work, the transparency, and the leadership can really guide this thing or not. So for me, I’m just focused on that.”
Even with that added pressure, Brown pushed back against the anxiety that comes with playing in a win-now environment for a passionate fanbase — stressing that he’s thrived in those conditions with Boston over a decade to this point.
“I played in Boston for the last 10 years — pressure is high there. It’s Titletown, they expect to win every single year, and they’re always looking for someone to blame,” Brown said. “Some of those years, it was me, so I’ve been through that. All I come with is my work ethic, my mentality, impact on winning, and that’s just my approach.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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