Boston Celtics
“If it was up to me, I’d play in Boston for the next 10 years. I’ll say it again: I hate that Brad even had to respond to this.”
Jaylen Brown took to Twitch again on Wednesday to clarify some of his comments. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)
For the second time this week, Celtics star Jaylen Brown took to Twitch to speak on a variety of topics — including a recent report signaling his potential discontent with the Celtics organization ahead of a potentially busy offseason.
Many Celtics fans were alarmed when NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady noted on a recent podcast that there might be signs of tension between Brown and the only NBA team he’s ever played for.
“I think his frustration lies deeply within the organization and other things that we don’t have the details to,” McGrady said. “There’s just been a lot of stuff that I’ve been hearing going on with the Boston organization with J.B.”
McGrady’s comments even led to a question posed toward Brad Stevens during the Celtics president of basketball operations’ end-of-year press conference on Wednesday about his relationship with Brown at this stage of his career.
Amid those reports — coupled with additional headlines drummed up by Brown’s recent comments about flopping, NBA officiating, and more — Brown attempted to clear the air and add some context to his remarks during Wednesday’s Twitch stream.
“First things first, lotta stuff swirling around the Celtics and our organization,” Brown said. “Hate that our president of basketball operations even had to respond to this. Me and Brad have a great relationship. I love Boston. If it was up to me, I’d play in Boston for the next 10 years. I’ll say it again: I hate that Brad even had to respond to this.”
10 minutes of Jaylen Brown addressing his recent comments:
“I hate that our president of basketball operations even had to respond to this. Me and Brad have a great relationship. I love Boston. If it was up to me I could play in Boston for the next 10 years.”
“We fought… pic.twitter.com/CfF9ufxG1P
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) May 7, 2026
Stevens, for his part, echoed a similar sentiment during Wednesday’s press conference at the Auerbach Center.
While Brown’s close relationship with McGrady added extra weight to the former NBA star’s cryptic comments, Stevens stressed that he hasn’t heard anything regarding a souring relationship with Brown.
“I talked to Jaylen on Monday real quickly and it was nothing but positive,” Stevens said. “He has not expressed those frustrations to me. We’ve been here ten years together.”
“Obviously I love J.B., everybody around here loves J.B. Just like any of our other guys as we get to the end of the regular season, I’ll be here and my door is always open and if anybody ever wants to come in and talk about the team, their place, whatever, I’m all ears.”
Beyond pushing back against McGrady’s comments, Brown also discussed his $50,000 fine — doled out by the NBA after criticizing NBA officials for having an “agenda” against him this season. He also called out Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid for flopping during Philly’s first-round series against Boston.
Brown’s comments drew plenty of criticism from Stephen A. Smith, Draymond Green, Kendrick Perkins, and others — especially given the timing after Embiid and the Sixers erased a 3-1 series deficit en route to ending Boston’s season in seven games.
“I think ultimately Embiid was our demise,” Brown said on Wednesday. “I think that’s a majority of the reason why we haven’t progressed to the second round. So like I said, I give my credit to the Philadelphia 76ers. I give my credit to Joel Embiid — I think he’s a great player. … I still think Embiid flopped entirely too much, but that’s just my personal opinion.
“Speaking of flopping … I got fined $50,000 yesterday basically for streaming and talking about the inconsistency of the officials. Any time you address anything official-related, you are due to potentially get fined. And I got 50K, and I might get fined another 50k after I say what I gotta say.”
Brown also doubled down on his previous comments that the 2025-26 season — despite coming to an end in the first round — was his “favorite” season so far in his NBA career.
Considering that Brown and the Celtics won a title in 2024, Brown’s comments drew some criticism — especially given Boston’s early exit and the optics of the Celtics playing most of the season without Jayson Tatum as he recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
But Brown said that the main reason why he held this past season in such high regard was because of the growth of Boston’s full roster.
“I mean, we blew a 3-1 lead, and yeah — we lost in the first round. We didn’t win a championship. But the amount of growth, the expectations that these same [critics] have for us, is why this was my favorite year, because I got to see it in practice. … The expectations were for this team was to fail. The expectations was the team [would] be nothing, just to give in to and to quit. And this team did the exact opposite. We fought every single day. We fought for everything.
“I got to see Jayson Tatum come back from an injury, mentally overcome what [it] takes … this is a part of the reason why this was my favorite year. You got to see all of these guys, all of my teammates, grow. I got to see them overcome adversity as a group, up close and personal. And even though we didn’t accomplish what we accomplished, no excuse.
“ I’m not making no excuses. Obviously, the result — we’re not satisfied with the result. . … But to fight and maneuver through adversity and grow and galvanize with a bunch of guys and have that mindset and approach, this was my favorite year. I wouldn’t say by far. By far would be a stretch, because obviously, winning the championship is great, but I’m telling y’all, this was my favorite season.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
