Scalabrine made several decreasingly funny references to Brown’s comments regarding Tatum and the Celtics on Tuesday.
Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine meets fans before a game in April 2025. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
October 31, 2026
3 minutes to read
Sure would love to see Brian Scalabrine’s call log over the last week.
NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics color analyst put himself in the middle of the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown conversation Monday when he said on his SiriusXM program that Brown, whose trade to the 76ers in July stunned Celtics fans, had “demanded” to be dealt.
“My understanding is Jaylen Brown went to the organization and had a list of demands,” Scalabrine said. “And it was like, ‘You either do this, or you trade me.’ ”
A representative for Brown — who has made occasional cryptic digs at Tatum and the Celtics since the deal, including last week — told ESPN that Scalabrine’s statement was “10,000 percent a lie,” which is a very high percentage. The representative did acknowledge that Brown had requested to be treated equally with Tatum, whatever that means.
Scalabrine — whose phone must have been ringing nonstop after his show, including from Celtics-affiliated numbers — walked back his comments before and during the Celtics’ win over the Bulls on Monday night.
That made for some bizarre television.
Scalabrine and play-by-play voice Drew Carter bantered and meandered and chuckled a lot before Scalabrine acknowledged Brown “didn’t technically demand a trade” but had made certain demands of the Celtics without getting into specifics.
I like Carter and Scalabrine on the Celtics broadcasts — I’m forever impressed by how dedicated Carter has been to fully understanding Celtics history — but they didn’t handle this well. They were too glib Monday, and then took it to a ridiculous level during Tuesday’s win over the Nets, making several decreasingly funny references to Brown’s comments regarding Tatum and the Celtics.
One or two wry one-liners in passing about Tatum’s “public relations team” (something Brown has referenced) or “lamb chops” (Brown’s response to a question about having a beef with Tatum) might have been amusing. Once the references approached a half dozen, it was tiresome.
Scalabrine told me a few weeks back that he views his role as “infotainment” to some degree. The Brown conversation this week wasn’t as informative as it first seemed, and less entertaining the more the Celtics broadcasters brought it up.
Earnest goodbye
Ernie Johnson announced Wednesday that he will step down as host of “Inside the NBA” following this season, ending a 37-year run as host of the beloved and decorated studio program. Johnson, 70, said he will continue to work, including staying on as part of CBS and Turner Sports’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“I just want to slow down a bit,” said Johnson, who has dealt with a heart problem in recent years.
In its current incarnation with Johnson hosting and Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal as analysts, “Inside the NBA” has been the best studio program across any sport that I’ve ever spent time with. The biggest reasons are the chemistry of the hosts and the laugh-out-loud humor, but somewhere on that list is the candor and vulnerability of the people on the show, Johnson and Barkley in particular. That was evident again Wednesday when Barkley did not try to hide his tears as Johnson further explained his reasons.
I’m going to do my best to enjoy every minute of “Inside the NBA” the rest of this season, because there’s never been anything like it before, and there won’t be after Johnson leaves.
Not compatible
Pat McAfee proved to be a sensitive sentient monster truck this week, griping about his experience at the University of Utah after the school’s Instagram account shared a student video making lighthearted fun of the ESPN personality in advance of last Saturday’s “College GameDay” visit. It would be a shame if other schools on the “College GameDay” docket followed suit … Don’t know about you, but every time Joe Buck and Troy Aikman — whose ongoing behind-the-scenes rancor is practically certain to lead to an on-air breakup following ESPN’s Super Bowl LXI broadcast — are on camera during “Monday Night Football,” I’m too busy studying their body language to actually pay attention to what they’re saying … I’m overdue here in saluting former Boston College football radio voice Dan Davis, who passed away at age 84 on Oct. 21, and for that I apologize. Davis, a Portland, Maine, native, is most well-known in New England for his legendary call of the Doug Flutie-to-Gerard Phelan Hail Mary to beat Miami in 1984. But he had a longstanding national profile as well at ESPN, which included six years on the “Tony Kornheiser Show” and a long run as a “SportsCenter” radio update voice. Maybe you didn’t know his face, or even his name, but any ESPN listener would recognize his voice in an instant.
Chad FinnSports columnist
Chad Finn is a sports columnist for Boston.com. He has been voted Favorite Sports Writer in Boston in the annual Channel Media Market and Research Poll for the past four years. He also writes a weekly sports media column for the Globe and contributes to Globe Magazine.
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