Five-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown is still reeling from the Boston Celtics’ recent decision to trade him to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brown, 29, reflected on his whirlwind offseason on Thursday, July 9, during a live stream with streamer IShowSpeed as the two watched the France vs. Morocco World Cup quarterfinal match.
“I just got traded. … They packed me up, bro. It’s a crazy business, bro. Don’t become a basketball player,” he said. “There’s no loyalty. There’s no love.”
IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., then asked Brown what happened.
“That’s a real good question,” he replied. “I think a lot of people wanna hear that — they asking that question right now. I don’t know. I got packed up. They packed me up, ‘Sayonara chat,’ I’m outta here.”
The Celtics traded Brown to Philadelphia in exchange for former All-Star Paul George and two second-round draft picks. Team president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told reporters the move was to give the Celtics more salary cap flexibility because Brown and teammate Jayson Tatum alone took up about 70 percent of the cap.
George, 36, also has a massive contract, but his goes one fewer year than Brown’s. Still, it has led some to think there were other reasons for Boston to deal Brown.
Instagram users noted that Brown, for his part, “liked” a comment from a fan before the trade saying that the Celtics should send him to a “city who respects him.”
“When something like that happens, it’s not a black-and-white type of thing,” head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters on Thursday. “The part that I hope gets talked about more, and the part that we really want to focus on the most, is really just the respect, the appreciation and the gratitude for what he did for the Celtics for 10 years.”
Mazzulla, 38, also pointed to Brown’s long tenure with the Celtics, which included an NBA Championship and NBA Finals MVP award in 2024.
“He was a Celtic longer than I have been,” Mazzulla said. “He was here before me. He set the tone and started that, and was a part of special things, and continued that, and obviously was one of the biggest reasons why we were able to be as successful as we have been. So that to me is what we have to focus on more: The respect as a competitor and the gratitude for what he’s done.”
Once the trade was official, Brown released a statement thanking the city of Boston and the fans.
“The relationships I built here, the battles we fought together, the championship we brought to this city, and the connection I shared with the fans, I’ll carry on with me,” he said. “Saying goodbye isn’t easy when you’ve invested your heart into something. I’m big on respect and actions speak louder than words. To the people of Boston, thank you. To the community I built here, I love you.”
