Jaylen Brown broke his silence Thursday on his blockbuster trade to the Philadelphia 76ers, admitting he’s still processing the abrupt exit from Boston, the team that drafted him No. 3 overall in 2016.
The trade has gone over like a lead balloon with Celtics fans, who have been left baffled and angry at the Boston organization, which has long been a model of NBA integrity and quality.
Jaylen Brown Addresses Trade to Philadelphia 76ers
Brown was a foundational piece of Boston’s core during a 10-season run in which the franchise made the playoffs every year, advanced to the Eastern Conference finals six times and the NBA Finals twice, finally winning the championship in 2024. Brown was named MVP of the 2024 Finals. Nonetheless, Boston dealt the two-time All-NBA second-team selection to Philadelphia on Wednesday in a deal that sent Paul George, two 2028 and 2031 first-round picks, and two 2028 and 2030 second-round picks back to the Celtics.
The move stunned much of the NBA, coming after weeks of trade speculation that had linked Brown’s name to a possible Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit. Reports indicated Brown never asked out of Boston, making the trade’s scale even more jarring to a fan base that watched him deliver a title two years earlier.
On Thursday, Brown addressed the trade for the first time, streaming live on Twitch.
“I’m still processing everything so give me some time,” Brown said, adding that “there was a message being sent… and that message was received,” Brown said during the Thursday stream.
He went further, discussing his relationship with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens.
“I think there was a bit of a lack of respect… I wasn’t thrilled with how Brad was facilitating a lot of the conversations… But there’s more to it,” Brown told viewers on the Twitch stream.
Brown repeated the sentiment throughout the broadcast, according to a clip shared by CLNS Media Celtics correspondent Noa Dalzell. “I just wish that the ‘more to it’ could have been explained… Whatever it really was, you didn’t share it with me.”
He didn’t spare Boston’s front office from criticism, repeating his claim of “lack of respect” from the organization.
“Boston packed me up. Pack ya bags. Sayonara buddy… there was definitely a lack of respect from Boston,” Brown said on the stream.
Jaylen Brown Reverses Course on Philadelphia Rivalry
Brown also turned toward his new home, acknowledging a decade of animosity built around the Celtics-76ers rivalry now needs undoing.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been programmed to hate Philadelphia… like I’ve been programmed to be like f*** the process,” Brown said, referencing his new team’s history. “It’s funny now, I gotta reverse engineer.”
He embraced his new city’s identity moments later, declaring the Process “back,” according to multiple clips circulating from the stream. Brown mentioned the word “respect” roughly 37 times across the broadcast, according to a count kept by viewers.
Brown called new teammates Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe during the stream, marking their first conversation since the trade. Maxey indicated he would join Brown on a future Twitch stream. Brown also shouted out a young Celtics fan who went viral after the trade news, telling the fan they would “always be friends” and that he planned to visit.
Older comments from Brown resurfaced alongside Thursday’s stream. In a May Twitch appearance following Boston’s first-round playoff exit, Brown called Joel Embiid, now his teammate, “one of the best bigs in f****** basketball history” while criticizing his flopping as excessive, saying it had “ruined our game.” Those remarks, made months before either player knew a trade was coming, are taking on new context now that Brown and Embiid will share a locker room.
Brown closed the stream on a lighter note, noting the black throwback jerseys had long been his favorite in the league, even during his years as Philadelphia’s rival.
Jaylen Brown Breaks His Silence on Trade, Says Celtics Showed ‘Lack of Respect’