Celtics' Jaylen Brown Rips NBA 'Foul Baiting' Tactics, Says Some Players 'Manipulate' the Game

On a night when the Boston Celtics lost a tight game with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jaylen Brown had some thoughts about what he considers manipulative strategies from players to get to the free-throw line.

Speaking to reporters after the 104-102 loss, Brown called out "foul baiting" tactics in an attempt to "manipulate" the game:

"I don't know, maybe it all works in the end, but I just don't foul bait. I'm not looking to flop or anything like that, but it's almost like you got to. It's almost like, because there's a couple of plays in the fourth quarter where I felt like I drove strong, went up strong, and I didn't get the benefit of the doubt. But maybe if I would have flopped, maybe I would have been able to sell that call. And those decide games. So it's like, we commend players for playing the game the right way, but we give the benefit to those who necessarily are trying to manipulate the game into their advantage. I just don't think it's basketball. Let's just play basketball. All the foul baiting, I think it's whatever for me."

Celtics-Thunder Full Highlights

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This was Brown's first game after being ejected in the second quarter of Tuesday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs for arguing a no-call when Stephon Castle appeared to make contact with him.

Brown voiced his displeasure about the officiating from the locker room after his ejection with a post on X by writing: "This the s--t I be talking about."

Even though Brown didn't name any specific players following Thursday's game, one frequent commentary about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's style of play is that he knows how to manipulate both his body and defenders to generate foul calls.

The irony of this particular night is that Brown led all players in the game with 14 free-throw attempts, his third-highest total in a game this season. Gilgeous-Alexander attempted eight free-throws, below his season average of 9.2.

Despite Brown's unhappiness about the state of officiating and foul-baiting in the NBA, Thursday was actually an impressive showing by him and the Celtics if you start looking ahead to their playoff prospects.

The Celtics lost by two on the road to the defending NBA champs with neither Derrick White nor Jayson Tatum playing in the game.