Boston Celtics
“The agenda was that y’all didn’t protect home court. Y’all lost the game.”
Jaylen Brown during Game 5 of the first-round playoff series against the 76ers. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
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Former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins criticized recent comments Jaylen Brown made on a livestream accusing officials of having an agenda during the Celtics’ first-round playoff loss to the 76ers.
Brown said the referees were targeting him. Perkins said he doesn’t want to hear excuses for the way things went during the series.
“You can miss me with all this [expletive],” Perkins said during an appearance on Road Trippin’ Show. “You were up 3-1. Yo a** flops at times. I don’t want to hear that. There was no agenda whatsoever. The agenda was that y’all couldn’t make shots.”
“The agenda was that y’all refused to switch up your style of play of shooting threes after threes after threes when at times y’all could have drove the damn basketball and got some layups or put some pressure on the referees.”
The Celtics shot 20 free-throws per game and scored 37.1 points in the paint per game during the playoffs, both second-to-last in the league. They shot a league-high 46.1 threes per game, nearly seven more than the second-highest team in that category.
“Ya’ll lost three home games in [TD Garden]” Perkins said. “It used to be a sacred place, it used to be a hard place for opponents to win games in there, but instead Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid walked into y’all [expletive] crib, shoes all muddied, went and kick their feet on your coffee table and ordered DoorDash with your credit card. That’s how comfortable they were.”
“So, don’t come telling me about an agenda that the league or the referees or anybody had towards y’all. The agenda was that y’all didn’t protect home court. Y’all lost the game. Y’all didn’t want to make adjustments or get outside of your comfort zone and y’all kept shooting them dumb*** 3-point shots because y’all had success doing it and won a championship two, three years ago.”
Perkins encouraged Brown to take accountability for the loss. The Celtics had never blown a 3-1 series lead before. This is their earliest playoff exit since 2020.
“Take ownership. Zero excuses. I don’t want to hear this [expletive]. Philadelphia 76ers kicked y’all a**, they did what they’re supposed to do, y’all didn’t do anything from the coaches on down to you JB, and I love you. I voted for you, you finished top-5 in my MVP vote.
“But, y’all didn’t get it done. Didn’t cut the mustard. That’s the agenda.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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