The Boston Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead to the Philadelphia 76ers and got knocked out in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Instead of going quiet, Jaylen Brown went live, and things have only gotten louder since.
Via a ClutchPoints post on X, a clip surfaced of Stephen A. Smith on First Take firing back at Brown after the Celtics star called him the face of clickbait media on his Twitch stream and told him to retire.
What Stephen A. Smith Said to Jaylen Brown
GettyStephen A. Smith Unleashes on Celtics’ Jaylen Brown
Smith’s response came with the kind of delivery only he can pull off.
“Get your a** in studio. You looking like you in some dungeons in a little room or whatever. You making $54 million a year. You’re going to make $57 million next year, $61 million a year after that, $67 million a year after that. You’re in the midst of a $304 million contract. Get a studio with a director and a producer. Call it up clips of mine. The computer ain’t even working right. Can’t even get the full sound up in there. Get that together. That’s number one. Stop being so damn cheap. You got the money. Pay it, okay, for a better production.”
That was Smith’s whole argument. Not about what Brown said, not about the referees or the playoff exit. Just the setup, and the contract number.
How the Jaylen Brown and Stephen A. Smith Feud Started
GettyStephen A. Smith Drops Savage Message for Jaylen Brown After Viral Appearance
After the Celtics’ defeat in Game 7, Brown took to Twitch and blamed the NBA referees for targeting him, alleging that they had an agenda against him. The league responded by fining him $50,000 for these statements. Besides that, he criticized Joel Embiid for flopping and, maybe most controversially, expressed that the 2025-26 season was his best one in his career though they were knocked out early.
Smith took issue with all of it on First Take, telling Brown he needed to “be quiet” unless he was trying to force a trade. Brown shot back on X, saying he would go quiet the moment Smith retired. That offer, as Brown kept reminding everyone, still stands.
“My offer still stands. You want me to be quiet and stop streaming? Well, I want you to be quiet and get off these networks. Because you’re not using your platform to do real journalism. You’re using your platform to use clickbait.”
Brown also said that doing media interviews is part of NBA contracts and that he would lose money if he didn’t do it. The gist of his argument: players are also expected to do media appearances, so he will not let others imply that they are not.
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