It’s a new season for Jaylen Brown, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics, but there are still clearly hard feelings between Brown and his former club.
The veteran forward Jayson Tatum has avoided saying anything negative about his former teammate. Anytime he’s asked about Brown, Tatum claims they never had any friction.
As for Brown, he remains complimentary of Tatum, but has also hinted that the veteran forward hasn’t been truthful in his comments.
Then comes the ex-Celtics player-turned-commentator Brian Scalabrine, who has had a lot to say about Brown in the past few days.
First, Scalabrine reported that Jaylen Brown demanded a trade in the offseason. Hours later, Scalabrine went on an NBC Sports Boston pregame show and admitted that Brown “technically didn’t demand to be traded.”
Just to make sure the situation was cleared up, Brown’s team told ESPN’s Kris Rhim that the report was “10000% a lie.”
Despite Scalabrine walking back his report, he hasn’t backed off. While commenting on two games for the Celtics this week, Scalabrine used Brown’s viral words to essentially throw subliminal shots at the ex-Celtics star. Former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins isn’t a fan of it at all.
Ex-NBA Star DeMarcus Cousins Defends 76ers’ Jaylen Brown
“I think Scal is kind of whack for this,” Cousins said on Run It Back.
“Obviously, he has a job to do, but it’s giving homer vibes. There’s more context to this conversation then you know, he requested a trade. He didn’t feel appreciated. The team did dangle him out there in trade conversations. So you have to think from his perspective. I just held the fort down with the other superstar missing, and gave us a chance. The year before that, I win a Conference Finals MVP. We win a championship. All these things, and what do I get in return? Now my name is being dangled in trade conversations. So after all that, yeah, I would feel a certain way too.”
While Brown denies requesting a trade, many offseason reports suggested he would be open to one. The 76ers weren’t linked to the star forward at all before the two teams ultimately agreed to swap stars Brown and Paul George, with Philly sending significant draft compensation.
Considering the way everything went down–and continues to play out–thefirst Sixers-Celtics battle next month will have plenty of eyes on it. Scalabrine might get called out by some over his comments, but he’s certainly adding to the hype.
