Jaylen Brown calls out Stephen A. Smith over his latest hot Celtics take
It appears that Jaylen Brown is not ignoring the noise.
Clearly, that has not negatively affected Brown’s performance on the court. If anything, it fueled him, all the way to an Eastern Conference Finals MVP award. But clearly, Brown was checking X on Sunday night, or had heard about the latest hot Celtics take from Stephen A. Smith and decided to hop on his social media.
“State your source,” Brown simply responded to Smith, through a clip of the original comments.
For context, Smith originally said, as he read a text from someone he termed an “NBA source”: “It’s not so much that [Brown’s] underrated, it’s that he’s just not liked, because of his ‘I am better than you’ attitude. He knows it. It’s the same reason he is not as marketable as he should be.”
The comment went viral, bolstered by a pointed response from NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, who described himself as a friend and mentor to Brown and considers the Celtics star “100 percent marketable.”
Smith responded to the responses, as it typically goes in sports media. He explained that while he greatly admires Brown for being “socially conscientious” and being on the front lines of various social and political movements, it can have a negative effect on business.
“I don’t know why this was made up into something bigger than it was,” Smith said. “I’ve been nothing but complimentary about [Brown], I’m going to continue to do that. I pointed out what I pointed out because when you are conscientious, when you are somebody that speaks your mind and speaks on behalf of others, sometimes that doesn’t make you marketable, because people want to hold that against you.”
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MAY 27: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics raises The Larry Bird Trophy after winning Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
That’s a small part of Smith’s extended response to the controversy. He also said that he didn’t agree with what his source said about Brown’s lack of marketability, but just wanted to point out that it’s a perspective certain people have around the league.
Smith, of course, won’t reveal his source, because that’s simply not a thing that happens in media. So, Brown is going to just have to accept that these things are being said about him. On some level, he seems to get why this perception of him exists.
“At this point, I’m at that phase of my life where I just embrace all forms of negativity,” Brown said after Game 4 Monday night. “Some stuff I don’t understand. It ain’t meant for me to understand it. I just know who I am and what I stand for. Sometimes it makes people feel uncomfortable, and sometimes I miss out on things, I miss out on opportunities, awards, marketing deals, or whatever the case may be.
“At this point, I just embrace it. I am what I am, and I’m going to stand on my beliefs. I’m one of those people who would die for what they believe in. I just embrace it, at this point. I’m just grateful to be in this position, and the energy is about to shift.”
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You know what would make Brown more marketable? Winning a championship. Say he carries his conference finals performance over to a win in the NBA Finals, and wins MVP of THAT series as well. Think any major sports brands might look at him as someone to promote to consumers, as someone to emulate? Being like the best in the world is a big part of sports marketing.
If the Celtics do end up winning the NBA championship this season, bet a lot of young fans and consumers will want to be more like Jaylen Brown. And Smith’s source will, in fact, be wrong.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
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