Boston Celtics
“[Flopping] is not why the Boston Celtics lost. The Boston Celtics lost because they lived and died with the three, because they played dumb basketball down the stretch.”
Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back when speaking about Jaylen Brown’s recent comments. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
May 4, 2026 | 7:38 PM
2 minutes to read
Just a day after the Celtics’ season came to an abrupt end against the 76ers, Celtics star Jaylen Brown didn’t hold back when discussing Philadelphia star Joel Embiid.
During a live Twitch stream broadcast on Sunday night, Brown called out Embiid for his knack for drawing calls.
“Flopping has ruined our game. Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in [expletive] basketball history. [He] flops. He knows it,” Brown said. “It’s not breaking news.”
Considering the timing of Brown’s comments after Embiid and the Sixers erased a 1-3 series deficit against Boston and ended their season on Saturday night, ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith took umbrage with Brown’s remarks.
“I understand where Jaylen Brown is coming from, but here’s why it’s just an awful, awful look for him,” Smith said. “Bro, you get paid over $300 million — $300 million. You were an MVP candidate. You were up 3-1 in this series. Did you say anything when you were up 3-1? Did you say anything then? No, you didn’t. And the fact of the matter is, Joel Embiid missed the first three games of this series, came back in Game 4, dropped 26 [points] and the Sixers still got blown out, you still said nothing.”
“And then all of a sudden, here you are after blowing a 3-1 lead for the first time in Celtics’ history and you’re gonna sit up there and do a … video complaining about him flopping? How about all [those] damn missed jump shots your teammates made? Wide open, Jay.”
Embiid and the Sixers got the last laugh against the Celtics during their playoff series. Despite missing the start of this playoff series while recovering from an appendectomy, Embiid averaged 28 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists over the final four games of this seven-game bout with Boston.
The Celtics failed to right the ship and stave off elimination in Game 7 on Saturday night at TD Garden, with Boston unable to rally back late in the fourth quarter after bricking several shots in crunch time.
The Celtics closed out Saturday’s 109-100 loss shooting just 27 percent from 3-point range (13-for-49), while Brown was a minus-16 in his 40 minutes of reps.
“[Flopping] is not why the Boston Celtics lost,” Smith said. “The Boston Celtics lost because they lived and died with the three, because they played dumb basketball down the stretch. … They just launched three after three after three and missed six or seven straight threes in the last two minutes [of Game 7].
“They blew this opportunity. They were up 3-1, and you lost. This is not the time to be talking about Joel Embiid flopping — damn sure not [the time] to do a show, a podcast show, or video show about it.”
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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