When Brad Stevens sat down for his end-of-season news conference Wednesday morning, the first question he received was about Jaylen Brown’s reported frustration with the Celtics organization.
Hours later, Brown sought to clear the air about that and other matters during a live stream on his Twitch channel.
“I hate that our president of basketball operations even had to respond to this,” Brown said. “Me and Brad have a great relationship. I love Boston. If it were up to me, I would play in Boston for the next 10 years.”
Stevens was responding to comments from Basketball Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, who shared on his podcast this week that Brown has “frustration (that) lies deeply within the (Celtics) organization.” McGrady, who has been a mentor to Brown, made those remarks after a controversial Brown live stream Sunday night, during which the Celtics star accused NBA officials of having an “agenda” against him and called this season his “favorite year” despite Boston’s first-round playoff exit.
Stevens said Brown’s alleged frustration with the team was news to him.
“I talked to Jaylen Monday a little bit, real quickly, and (it) was nothing but positive,” he said. “He has not expressed those frustrations to me. We’ve been here 10 years together, and I do think that, obviously I love JB, and everybody around here loves JB. … None of that has been expressed to me.”
During his Wednesday stream, Brown stood by his declaration that this was his favorite season. He had said so several times during the season, but his latest comment made headlines, considering one of his earlier seasons produced an NBA championship and an NBA Finals MVP award.
“I say this and I stand on this again. Clip this up. This was my favorite season of my career,” Brown said. “Like, I will say it even louder. I stand on it. I triple down, quadruple down, whatever y’all want me to say.”
Brown then offered a lengthy explanation for that stance. What made this season so rewarding, he said, was the growth he saw from his teammates amid adversity and low external expectations.
The Celtics were expected to struggle after jettisoning half of their championship-winning rotation last summer and losing superstar Jayson Tatum to a ruptured Achilles that sidelined him until March. They wound up winning 56 games and earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before cratering in their first playoff series, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games after blowing a 3-1 lead.
Despite the ugly finish, Brown was adamant that he did not consider the season a failure.
“When you hear (critics) speak to why the season is a failure, they don’t understand how overcoming adversity is a win,” said Brown, who averaged a career-high 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. “Like, yeah, our team, we blew a 3-1 lead, and yeah, we lost in the first round. We didn’t win a championship. But the amount of growth, the expectations that these same people have for us, is why this was my favorite year, because I got to see it in practice. I got to see it in the beginning.
“I got to see the rookie, Hugo Gonzalez, just come in, add value and play with fire. I got to see the young kid from Spain just turn into a monster. I got to see Jordan Walsh, who was kind of trying to find his footing and trying to find playing time and trying to get secure in himself. I watched him in practice and every day, grow to where he is now. He feels a lot more confident about himself than he did the start of his season. I got to see Neemias Queta once again become a starting big in this league, and add value and grow every single day. I got to see all this from the beginning to now. I got to see them mentally, emotionally, physically grow.
“I got to see Payton Pritchard, who already was a killer, but take on more responsibility, be more of a go-to guy. I got to see that develop, and you all got to see it too, you know what I mean? But I got to see it from a day-in, day-out basis, where the expectation for this team was to fail. The expectation was for the team to be nothing, just to give in and to quit. And this team did the exact opposite. We fought every single day. We fought for everything.
“I got to see Jayson Tatum come back from an injury, mentally overcome what that takes. And this is a part of the reason why this was my favorite year. You got to see all of these guys, all of my teammates grow. I got to see them overcome adversity as a group, up close and personal. And even though we didn’t accomplish what we (wanted to) accomplish — it’s no excuse. I’m not making no excuse.
“Obviously, the result, we were not satisfied with the result. To sound like an excuse, it’s not. But to fight and maneuver through adversity and grow and galvanize with a bunch of guys, and to have that mindset and approach, this was my favorite year. I wouldn’t say ‘by far.’ By far would be a stretch; obviously, winning a championship, it was great. But I’m telling y’all, this was my favorite season. Y’all don’t get to tell me.”
Brown also said he did not regret the comments about NBA officiating that earned him a $50,000 fine. The refs, he added, were not the reason for Boston’s loss to Philadelphia. He again blamed that on the Celtics’ inability to contain Joel Embiid after the Sixers star returned from injury in Game 4.
“Give credit to them again,” he said. “They beat us. Embiid just ultimately was our demise.”
Brown reiterated multiple times during his stream that he would like to remain in Boston for the next decade “if it were up to (him).” After the final mention, he added: “But we’ll see.”
The 29-year-old has three years remaining on the record-setting five-year, $304 million contract he signed in 2023. He will become eligible for a two-year, $141.9 million extension this July.
Stevens said the Celtics must add to their roster this offseason to compete with the NBA’s top teams, specifically noting the need to “have more of an impact at the rim.” It’s unclear whether the team would consider trading Brown — its longest-tenured player coming off the best statistical season of his career — as part of that effort.