Jaylen Brown reportedly demanded a trade from the Celtics, per NBC Sports Boston analyst Brian Scalabrine, that was huge news earlier Monday. But Brown denied that report, according to ESPN’s Kris Rhim.
Speaking to a Brown representative, Rhim reported that Brown demanding a trade or presenting the Celtics a list of demands are “10000% a lie.” The rep also said that, after the deal with the Bucks fell through for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brown requested to “have input on his destination.” The C’s eventually sent Brown to Philly in exchange for Paul George and draft assets.
Scalabrine made waves earlier Monday because he revealed that Brown went to the organization and demanded a trade. However, he walked back some of that talk pregame Monday ahead of the Celtics’ blowout win over the Bulls, including that Brown demanded a trade. There’s some nuance to the discussion, but regardless, it sounds like Brown still had a list of wants, per Scalabrine.
“I don’t know what the ultimatum was or the demands or whatever it was,” Scalabrine said on the NBC Sports Boston broadcast. “So, technically, he did not demand to be traded. It was, ‘Do these things right here or else.’
“And one of them might have been, ‘Give me the $140 million extension.’ So, I haven’t gotten to the bottom of all that. I didn’t even know this was going to be a thing. It’s one of those things that lived in my mind for months. I finally used it because we were talking about the weirdest stuff, and then now it’s out there.”
The start of this whole saga began last week because Brown commented a singular emoji on a social media post. Former teammate Jayson Tatum released a video talking about his initial reaction to the blockbuster trade. Brown seemingly didn’t believe Tatum was telling the truth, posting a blue cap emoji, which is slang for untrue.
The ensuing days have featured all corners of the NBA world speculating on their relationship. Tatum addressed the noise last Friday, saying he wanted to have a conversation with Brown and raising other points. Tatum added that he reached out to Brown but never heard back.
Then it was Brown’s turn to respond Saturday. That included saying there was no beef, but there was some lamb chop. He also said Tatum has a great PR team and “(Tatum) should stay ready at all times.” The Celtics and Sixers face Nov. 10 in Philly, so there should be some extra juice for that game between the former teammates.
Scalabrine made his comments about Brown earlier on his SiriusXM NBA radio show, “The Starting Lineup,” where he revealed that Brown went to the Celtics with a list of demands. It’s still unclear what exactly went down but it’s just the latest detail in the fallout of the Brown trade.
“My understanding is Jaylen Brown went to the organization and had a list of demands,” Scalabrine said on his radio show. “It was like you either do this or you trade me. And he was rooting to get traded to Milwaukee, including calling some other teammates about, ‘Hey man, what do you think about Milwaukee? We should go there.’ My point of all this is if you’re actually doing that and you’re going and saying that (Jayson) Tatum is the one that’s lying, your whole basis of this thing is a lie.”
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