When the Philadelphia 76ers completed their trade for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, no one expected the return Boston would get for their former Finals MVP.
After Walker Kessler cost the Los Angeles Lakers two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps earlier the same day, surely the Celtics would be able to get more for a player who was an All-NBA player in 2025-26.
Instead, almost every fan comes away from the trade feeling as though Boston got fleeced, and everyone took to social media to share their takes.
One person everyone wanted to hear a reaction from was arguably the biggest Celtics fan in the world, Bill Simmons, founder of The Ringer podcast network.
Simmons didn’t provide an instant reaction, and instead waited until Thursday morning to reveal his thoughts on the trade.
Bill Simmons’ Reaction to Jaylen Brown Trade
On the Thursday morning edition of the Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons told viewers why he was unable to record immediately after the Philadelphia 76ers trade, and also gave his honest take on his favorite basketball team trading one of its best players.
The reason why “The Podfather” didn’t go live immediately was that Simmons had a colonoscopy and was still recovering from the procedure when his wife came to pick him up.
My wife’s waiting to pick me up. And she goes, ‘they traded Jaylen Brown.’
I’m like – I had just woken up from anesthesia. And I’m not, as you guys know, not really coherent. And I’m like, ‘Where’d he go?’ And she’s like, ‘To Philly for Paul George and two first round picks.’ And I’m like, ‘I think I’m dead. I think I died. Anesthesia killed me, and now I’m a dead person.’
Simmons, one of the most famous Celtics fans in the world of sports media, was just as flabbergasted as everyone else about the Brown trade.
He thought the return would be at least a little bit better than Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.
And I’m like, I’m just trying to process it. And I- it’s, you know, it’s like I have a head injury. And I’m like, ‘Is there more? Are there more first round picks? Did they get to Clippers first?’ …And then I stumble out of this hospital place. So when this trade happened at 3:20 Pacific time, I had a camera in my (expletive), and I had Paul George be rammed up my (expletive). And that was happening at the same time. And that’s how I’m gonna remember July 1 2026.
76ers-Celtics Rivalry Makes Trade All the Worse
One of the aspects of this trade that makes it all the worse for Boston Celtics fans, like Simmons, is the deep-rooted rivalry with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Of course, the two Eastern Conference rivals met in the playoffs this past spring, when Philadelphia came back down 3-1 to upset Boston.
But over the course of NBA history, the two teams have met in the postseason 23 times, the most of any two teams in league history.
In the wake of the Brown trade, another chapter has been added to this historic rivalry, and it should only make the 76ers-Celtics matchups all the better next season.
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