Jaylen Brown has been playing some of the best basketball of his NBA career in the early 2025-26 season. Brown has good reason to think highly of his own game, and as such, he didn’t hide his disappointment when a monthly distinction did not come his way.
On Friday, the NBA announced the Players of the Month for December. While the Boston Celtics forward was certainly a worthy contender for the Eastern Conference iteration of this award, it was New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson who was named Player of the Month in the East. Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the accolade in the Western Conference.
This led Jaylen Brown to post a brief yet biting response on his X account.
“smh,” he wrote.
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) January 2, 2026
Notably, the former Finals MVP does have a bone to pick, as far as his numbers are concerned. In the month of December, Jaylen Brown averaged 31.7 points on 53.8% shooting from the field, along with 6.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. In comparison, Brunson put up 30.6 ppg on 47.5% FG shooting, 3.2 rpg, and 7.1 apg.
For what it’s worth, Brunson competed in more games this past month compared to Brown. With Brunson suiting up, the Knicks went 11-3 in December. Meanwhile, Boston pulled off a 7-3 record in the December games that Brown competed in.
Nevertheless, the slight edge that Brown has on Brunson is a detail worth revisiting. The fact that the two athletes play for longtime rivals Boston and New York adds another layer to a matchup that could one day grow into a rivalry.
Jaylen Brown Explains on Stream Why He Had a Better Month Than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Brunson
Not content with a simple tweet, Brown went on to air his grievances on a live stream. As he did so, one non-Eastern Conference player caught a stray.
“Imma be honest. No disrespect, no diss to any one of those guys, Shai or Brunson. Neither one of them had a better month that I had,” Brown said on the live stream.
Jaylen Brown:
“No disrespect, no diss to Shai or Brunson. But neither one of them had a better month than I had.” 👀🍿
(via @lockedupjb)pic.twitter.com/yDVdS4dIkC
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 3, 2026
Though Brown admitted that both Brunson and Gilgeous-Alexander are “great players,” his competitive fire was crystal clear in his various responses to the Players of the Month announcement.
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