Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown has had lots of time to respond to anyone who doubts his game, his abilities and contributions to winning basketball – and NBA media members aren’t exempt.
After a back-and-forth with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, which has gone on for more than a month, Brown’s media feuds continue.
Brown went off on X, formerly Twitter, in a series of posts including a response to ESPN NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks about the 2024 Finals MVP being viewed as the “seventh-best player” on a team by analytics.
“Analytics nowadays used to discredit and control narratives – Roll the ball out none of these guys better than me on both ends who does he work for,” Brown said in a post.
“Nobody has won more combined regular season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” Brown continued in a pair of posts. “Analytics have / are ruining the game we playing AI hoops.”
Marks responded to Brown on the social media platform saying that his full statement wasn’t posted in the aggregator platform on X, The Dunk Central or NBA Central, a page non-affiliated with the NBA.
“But what wasn’t posted was the 2m of saying I’m not an analytics person but an eye test guy. That I would want Jaylen Brown on my team. That you impact winning (191-80 in the last 4 years), is a top-10 player and would help any team looking to win a championship. That part of course didn’t make it. But that’s the media in 2026,” Marks said.
What actually was said about Jaylen Brown
Brown didn’t let it go. After Marks’ explanation, the Celtics forward replied, “state your source.”
Sirius XM NBA Radio Brian Geltzeiler replied under Brown’s “state your source” comment explaining how the comment on his radio show with former NBA player and coach Sam Mitchell originated.
“Jaylen, I asked Bobby the question. His full answer acknowledged the absurdity of the comment he REPEATED from someone else. It is not (Marks) opinion, mine, or my co-host (Mitchell).”
For full context of what was said on Geltzeiler and Mitchell’s radio show, Marks was introduced and immediately Geltzeiler dived into the situation in Boston after Brown was included in trade talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, which ultimately didn’t work out. However, there is belief that Brown still will be traded.
“From what I understand, it’s a pretty vibrant market out there for him, no?” Geltzeiler asked. Marks’ response was less than assuring.
“Mmm, I wouldn’t say vibrant,” Marks said. “There’s mixed feelings about him when you talk to teams. We had a spirited debate, I brought up the point on NBA today with Danny Green and Chiney (Ogwumike), you know, former players, and the debate was, the analytics of Jaylen Brown is not good.”
Marks continued: “Listen, I’m more of an eye test guy, like (he) impacts winning, 29 years old, has played in 60 more games, four to five last year, they’re 191-80, the last four years in place. Okay, he’s a top 10 player. But, here’s what the analytics say, a negative net rating the last four years, when he was on the court this year, they were -10.6. So, there are some people out there that look at that a little bit more deeper than you know than what the eye test says.”
Marks said there isn’t a line of teams looking to get Brown, especially due to having to take on his contract, which pays him $57 million this season and $61 million and $64 million in the following two years of his deal. He believes Portland could be a wild card contender for Brown.
Mitchell asked how front offices make the decision of eye test versus analytics, considering winning, the team a player is with and other variables.
“I agree, because like who is he on the court with? I mean, you really gotta like really go like deeper, it’s just not throwing out a number and everything like that. Who’s he on the court with? Was it at the end of games? You know, like, there’s a lot more into it than just saying, like, got a net rating,” Marks said. “Like, I mean, as I said, like, in that period of four years, they won an NBA championship. He was voted sixth in MVP. He basically carried a Celtic team without Jayson Tatum this year, and he had career numbers off the board, and everything like that.”
Mitchell added: “And all the players around him played well, got better. You look at some of them, like (Payton) Pritchard.”
“I know, I agree, Sam,” Marks said. “You got three years left, and I know it’s max money, but it’s a deal that there’s no player option in it, so I think you have to be careful as far as where you weigh it. You know, it’s funny, that’s a thing that’s been brought up. I had one, not an executive, but an analytics guy saying, ‘we view (Brown) as like the seventh-best player on a team.’ I was like, ‘holy crap’. Literally, like I get it, there’s a role for analytics and stuff, but well, I guess they call.. I joked, I guess we call that strategy now.”
A surprised Mitchell wanted to make sure he heard that right.
“Seventh-best player on a team?” Mitchell questioned.
In response to those who said Brown was a “seventh-best” player on a team, Marks said, “Wait a minute, that’s a little bit of a stretch there.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Jaylen Brown goes off on insider Bobby Marks and analytics enthusiasts
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