Stop Playing With Jaylen Brown

Addressing the media slander against one of the greatest Celtics ever

Jaylen Brown is a beast — Photo created by author using AI

I don’t too often feel the need to address matters occurring in the pro sports world, but that is slowly starting to change.

As a lifelong Celtics fan, I was annoyed to hear that Jaylen Brown was in trade conversations, especially in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, Giannis is a great player, but I love the dynamics that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have built over the years. I love to see the two of them playing together, and given that they’ve already won a championship, I am confident that they can do it again.

And honestly, I just don’t think adding Giannis to the Celtics would have improved the dynamics in any capacity. It seems far more likely that it would have become a pissing contest between the existing Celtics and Giannis.

Moreover, given that Tatum missed the majority of last season and Brown carried the team to the Playoffs, it made less sense than ever. So, at first, I ignored the rumors. Once they picked up steam, I started to tune in, but when I saw them starting to blatantly slander Tatum, the record stopped.

Here’s the tweet that triggered me:

The tweet that started it all — Screenshot taken from Twitter (X)

There’s a huge difference between having an opinion and making slanderous statements, and this is very much closer to the latter. Once I saw this tweet, it became very clear that this is more about politics than skill.

Let’s discuss.

What’s the Real Issue?

Jaylen Brown, like all basketball players, is not without his flaws. He comes across as cocky, can be a ball hog, and at times, may even come across as pretty pretentious, respectfully.

Fine and dandy.

But calling him the 7th best player on the team is outright egregious and seems to be a part of a bigger campaign to lower his value in the league. And baby, if he’s number 7, please list the top 6 and quickly!

I mean, we’ve seen this with plenty of players in the past (i.e., Allen Iverson, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, and most recently Ja Morant) where the politics and optics outweigh the player’s talent, and thus, they are devalued monetarily, even when they’re still literally at the top of their game.

I mean, Jaylen Brown is a recent NBA champion Finals MVP, and an elite two-way wing who is proven in handling Boston pressure like the icon he is. Also, per the Giannis move, he is obviously valuable in major trade conversations.

So, there is no way anyone can convince me that there isn’t something else going on behind the scenes that is causing his name to be thrown around in trade conversations like a hot potato, especially at this point in his career.

Also, they showed their hand with the Giannis trade, and now they’re trying to get rid of him before the whole team is uncomfortable.

I mean, if it worked out, they just might’ve had something. But at this point, they have an outspoken player who is pretty pissed. But the best scenario in a league that likes to keep it’s innerworkings out of the spotlight.

The Media Is Negotiating His Value in Public

As a sociologist, I always pay close attention to the narratives being pushed, because this is the main realm where perception literally becomes reality.

At this point, the media is not just reporting on Jaylen Brown in any genuine way. Rather, they are helping shape how people see his value before a possible trade.

Indeed, changing the narrative and conversation surrounding Brown before trading him can stand to benefit various people and organizations, least of all, Brown himself. This is why allowing this rhetoric to continue in this way is not only dangerous for Brown, but for the future of pro sports overall.

Allowing the media to devalue intelligent, powerful Black men (and women) is something that we as a collective need to learn to see through, as it is literally a way to devalue our community overall.

I, for one, will not sit idly and watch the likes of Jaylen Brown get carted off to the NBA trade clearance rack.

The Contradiction

None of this trading nonsense makes sense until you consider the politics. I mean, in what world is a low-value player being offered up for a powerhouse like Giannis? It literally makes no sense.

Nevertheless, this is what we’re being told to believe.

Jaylen Brown’s potential trade has been a consistent topic for weeks — he was literally on vacation overseas, minding his business, and has been a hot topic daily while he’s living his best life in the off-season.

This is not at all how low-value players are handled; they are usually swept off the court during a quiet trade to a much worse team with no explanation.

But this? This is how they handle the greats.

Like, if basketball was chess, touching Brown and Antetokounmpo is akin to touching two kings. He’s certainly not the only king on the board, but likening him to anything less is crazy. The kings are only moved when the pressure is on, and the other pieces have already exhausted their capacities to work together to secure the checkmate.

So, in this case, it seems that they chose a king (Tatum) and decided to use the other king as a pawn to trade for what they believed was an even more valuable king. Yes, in chess, the pawn would technically be turned into a queen, but you get the metaphor.

Why the Disrespect Feels Extra

And honestly, I don’t think they chose the king at random; I think this is where industry politics are on full display.

Tatum is more soft-spoken, palatable, and media-friendly. And he’s also the lighter-skinned one.

Yes, I’m going there.

If I can discuss colorism when it comes to women, I have to extend the same courtesy to Black men. In general, Brown is considered the more intimidating, outspoken, private, and self-assured player.

No shade to Tatum at all (I love him as well), but Jaylen is highly intelligent and notoriously took a master’s level course in Cultural Studies of Sports Education before being drafted. I mean, he’s literally the youngest person to ever lecture at Harvard and continues to stay connected to the academic community even while playing in the league. So, even if you only follow him on the court, his intelligence is almost impossible to ignore.

Let’s not pretend that we live in a world that has evolved enough to accept Jaylen Brown as a whole. Leagues like yes-men, and those who shut up and shoot the ball.

So, if we’re honest, Jaylen Brown’s athletic prowess is probably the reason he wasn’t traded long ago. An educated (dark-skinned) Black man with the potential to go rogue at any moment is a problem for any team, whether they say it out loud or not.

Stop Playing With Him

Listen, I said all that to say, stop playing with Jaylen Brown. This isn’t the past where we’re unable to research facts and stats, and no matter how hard you push to devalue his role in the Celtics, you can’t! We were there.

Critique him if you want, and trade him if you must, but devaluing him after all his hard work is why so many have a healthy distaste for pro sports overall. The crappy politics make it hard for people who love the sport to simply relax and enjoy the game.

At the end of the day, Jaylen Brown is an NBA Champion, a Finals MVP, and one of the best two-way wings in basketball. Address him as such.

Do you really believe Jaylen Brown is the 7th-best player on the Celtics?

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