Jaylen Brown sparked controversy after the Boston Celtics’ 109-100 Game 7 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, bluntly accusing Joel Embiid of “flopping.”
Brown doubled down on his criticism a day later, prompting Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green to caution the Celtics star about the risks of saying too much following a loss, especially after blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs.
Draymond Green Candidly Reacts to Jaylen Brown Slamming Joel Embiid After Game 7 Letdown
Brown and the second-seeded Celtics, who were favored to win the Eastern Conference, were in prime position to advance to Round 2 after taking a 3-1 advantage, with two of the next three contests at home.
Instead, Boston was unable to contain Embiid, who returned in Game 4 from an early April appendectomy, and couldn’t connect from beyond the arc at its typical rate as the series gradually slipped away.
Despite trailing by 18 points in the second half of Game 7, the Celtics fought their way back to make it a one-possession game. However, Brown and Co. went ice cold down the stretch without Jayson Tatum (knee), allowing Philadelphia to prevail and cap off the biggest upset of Round 1.
In Saturday’s postgame interview, Brown didn’t mince words about Embiid, asserting that the referees “rewarded” the star big man for “flopping around.”
The five-time All-Star reiterated his frustration during a Sunday Twitch stream, characterizing flopping as a league-wide issue.
“Flopping has ruined our game,” Brown claimed. “Joel Embiid is a great player. One of the best bigs in f**king basketball history. Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”
Jaylen Brown calls out Joel Embiid for flopping
“Flopping has ruined our league. Joel Embiid is one of the greatest players that has played basketball, but he flops. He knows it too” pic.twitter.com/MHARTTG5sy
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 4, 2026
Brown’s comments swiftly caused a stir across the NBA world, triggering accusations of softness.
According to Green, Brown would have been better off keeping his thoughts to himself, as nothing good can come from slamming opposing players after a major letdown.
“As you all know, not a huge fan of calling the guy out once you lost,” Green began on Monday’s edition of “The Draymond Green Show.”
“I just don’t love that because it comes off as excuse-making. A lot of people are trying to say, ‘Ah, man, Jaylen Brown making an excuse,’ when you, in fact, could be telling the dead-honest truth, but because you lost, people are always going to say, ‘There’s the excuse.’
“… So, it ultimately doesn’t hold weight, and I feel like you end up wasting one of your bullets because it doesn’t hold weight anyway because you lost, and people just charge it to, ‘Oh, man, he only saying that because he lost. Would he have said that if he won?'”
In addition to making headlines for his apparent bitterness and questionable assessment of the Celtics’ 2025-26 season, Brown’s future in Boston is now up in the air as the franchise seeks to pick up the pieces and return to title contention.
