ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is never one to hold back his opinions. After Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown took shots at ESPN and Smith recently, the “First Take” host wasted no time firing back.
Stephen A. Smith Goes Off on Celtics Star Jaylen Brown
This week, Brown described ESPN as “unethical,” and he argued that Smith is a big part of the problem. Brown took issue with Smith’s intense criticism over his viral comments that the 2025-26 campaign was his “favorite season” of his career despite being bounced in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers, choosing it over Boston’s championship year.
“The leader behind that was ESPN. ESPN is unethical, and Stephen A. Smith is the head face of that,” Brown said. “The organization, the players, they were all in agreeiance, they all knew what I meant by that. “Our team was basically salary dumped. We lost a lot of players and for us to emerge and still be in the same position, we have to start to understand that success doesn’t always [mean winning a championship].”
On Thursday, Smith fired back at Brown, although he said he wasn’t going to go off.
“It’s really pathetic,” Smith replied. “Don’t think it’s an accident that he went out of the country spewing that nonsense because we’re all tired of hearing from him here, because he’s making absolutely positively no sense. You know Jaylen Brown, I can’t believe what he has tried to make this into. Now the entire ESPN network is unethical. How are we unethical? What did we do to Jaylen Brown?”
“It’s really pathetic. Don’t think it’s an accident that he went out of the country spewing that nonsense because we’re all tired of hearing from him here… This is about a grown a*s man, acting like a child.”
Stephen A. Smith on Jaylen Brown’s commentspic.twitter.com/JM8zVVJQx9 https://t.co/sDqGZZtcxs
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 25, 2026
Smith then continued to call out Brown for his reaction after the Celtics blew a 3-1 lead and were eliminated in the first round by the seventh-seeded 76ers.
“All of this is because of Jaylen Brown, a champion, a Finals MVP and this year, a top candidate for MVP honors, lost a 3-1 lead in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers and went on the air less than 24 hours later and called it his ‘favorite season,'” Smith explained. “This is after taking the Boston Celtics to six Conference Finals, two NBA Finals appearances, winning a championship and a Finals MVP. This is also while Jayson Tatum was on the bench for over 60 games this year.”
All in all, Smith believes Brown just needs to grow up.
“This is about a grown [expletive] man acting like a child because he doesn’t like the fact that he went on the airwaves and spewed that going home in the first round was his favorite season,” Smith said. “Boston Celtics fans didn’t want to hear that. Basketball fans didn’t want to hear that.”
In a separate clip, Smith added: “Suddenly, we’re unethical because we’re telling you how your comments came across… I didn’t know you would come across as that soft.”
Smith also pointed out that plenty of analysts and writers from other companies also bashed Brown for his remarks. Brown has since tried to clarify what he meant, but the damage was done.
Recently, Brown’s name has surfaced in trade rumors. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics’ trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the Milwaukee Bucks opted to trade the two-time NBA MVP to the Miami Heat instead. Boston is reportedly still engaged in trade talks involving Brown, so it remains to be seen if he’ll be dealt or if they can repair the relationship with their former Finals MVP.
