The NBA has a way of hijacking the sports world’s attention, even in the depths of the offseason. The sport proved as much Wednesday, as the Boston Celtics shockingly shipped guard Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for a package involving Paul George.
The deal was met with … a lot of questions for the Celtics. While Brown isn’t an analytical darling, he has a track record of rising to the occasion. He was, after all, the MVP of the 2023-24 NBA Finals. George, on the other hand, is an injury-riddled 36-year-old whose most well-known nickname — Playoff P — is not a compliment.
Despite that, the Celtics felt the need to part ways with Brown. The team seemed intent on making that a reality the entire offseason, reportedly dangling Brown in trades for Giannis Antetokounmpo and offering Brown to the Minnesota Timberwolves before the team acquired LaMelo Ball.
Why? That’s the question most analysts asked amid the Brown trade rumors. Why did the Celtics feel it was necessary to move on from a player who consistently delivered for the franchise.
Turns out, there may have been a few behind the scenes reasons for the team wanting to move on, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
“Was it more personally motivated? Brown’s frequent Twitch streams caused some headaches in Boston’s front office and his claim that last season was his favorite —besting, you know, the 2024 run that ended in a championship — didn’t go over well with the fan base. Behind the scenes there was plenty of grumbling about Brown’s desire to be viewed as a basketball equal to Jayson Tatum.”
Apparently, Brown’s Twitch streams “caused some headaches” in the front office. And his belief he was as good as Jayson Tatum also ruffled some feathers.
While Brown’s Twitch streams have gotten him in trouble in the past, they haven’t been damaging to the Celtics. Complaining about the refs and calling out now-teammate Joel Embiid for flopping only hurt Brown, not the organization.
Brown’s Twitch streams had yet to reach the point where they were truly problematic to the Celtics’ organization. Despite that, the streams apparently caused enough agita to play a role in Brown getting dealt.
Brown’s reported belief that he was as good as Tatum could potentially cause issues in the locker room, though there’s no indication that was the case. And whether Brown is correct in his reported assessment, it’s easy to see how he could think that’s the case. With Tatum sidelined for a big portion of the regular season, Brown carried the Celtics to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and earned MVP votes. He did that in a year where most wrote off the Celtics as a rebuilding squad. Of course he’s going to feel confident in his game.
Unless Celtics brass explicitly cites those reasons, it’s tough to know how much — if at all — they played in Brown getting traded. It’s clear, though, that Boston had its reasons for shipping Brown away. The team was intent on including Brown in multiple offers this offseason, even after the Antetokounmpo trade fell apart. Additionally, it wasn’t the first offseason in which Brown was mentioned in trade talks.
The Celtics have no obligation to reveal why Brown had to go. For a player as accomplished as Brown, though, it feels silly to consider things like Twitch streams or his on-court confidence when trading him away, especially when neither issue seemed on the verge of tearing the team apart.
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