Jaylen Brown and Stephen A. Smith have been in an internet debate recently that has caught everybody’s attention in the NBA world. The NBA analyst took shots at Brown on his show and called out his relationship with his teammate Jayson Tatum. The Boston Celtics guard, on the other hand, pointed out that Smith did not perform the duties of a journalist correctly.
Tatum was out for the majority of the regular season and was set to miss the entire season. However, he rejoined the squad just before the postseason but couldn’t take them past Round 1. In light of this, Smith took a dig at Brown. Let’s see how this became big.
What happened between Jaylen Brown and Stephen A. Smith?
It all began earlier after the Celtics’ 2024 title season. As the Boston superstar was named the Finals MVP that season, Stephen A. Smith believed that he was not a “marketable” player. During one of his episodes of First Take, the analyst said:
“It’s not so much that he’s underrated, it’s that he’s just not liked because of his, ‘I am better than you,’ attitude.”
Brown responded to Smith’s statements on social media, asking the analyst to “state your source.” He even wore a t-shirt with that same line on the team’s victory parade. After that incident, the two were not on good terms, and recently, they came face-to-face.
Smith again called out Brown on his show and revealed that Tatum did not feature on his Twitch streaming sessions, but he was on First Take. Smith also berated Brown for using a “cheap” setup for the streaming and podcast and said:
“Get your a*s a studio. You looking like you in some dungeon in some little room… You making $54 million a year… get a studio with a director & a producer. … Stop being so damn cheap. You got the money.”
However, Brown reiterated his statement on Smith about his “journalistic values.” On another one of his streaming sessions, Brown played Smith’s statement and said:
“F*ck Stephen A… You want me to be quiet and stop streaming. I want you to be quiet and get off these networks. You’re not using your platform to do real journalism.”
Brown believed that talking about his streaming setup and speculating on the reason Tatum did not feature on his streams was not real journalism. He added that there could be several reasons behind Tatum not coming to his sessions.
Where did rumors arise of a rift in Jaylen Brown and Tatum’s relationship?
Although Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have established that they don’t have any power struggles between them, fans and analysts have speculated about their team dynamics. In the 2025-26 season, the Celtics were written off early, as Tatum was out of the roster for the foreseeable future. However, the Celts had a decent run and got into the playoffs.
However, Tatum’s return seemed to send the team into a frenzy, as they did not see any major change in their offensive production. He averaged 47% in the Round 2 series loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The team’s front office will now focus on getting the duo back to form for a title run next season.
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