Jaylen Brown Calls Out Stephen A. Smith For Saying He Should Be 'Quiet' After Live Stream Videos

Jaylen Brown has clapped back at Stephen A. Smith after the ESPN personality told the Boston Celtics star to "be quiet" amid comments about officiating and more during his livestreams.

"I'll 'be quiet' / stop streaming if you 'be quiet' and retire let's give the people what they want," Brown wrote on social media.

Smith promptly responded to Brown, writing: "Bro, I got love for you so I'm not going to even go there. Folks are looking out for you and you don't even realize it. Here you are making this kind of noise and it hasn't even been a week since you lost a 3-1 lead. You're HOME. A champion and a Finals MVP saying his favorite season is the season he's home in the FIRST ROUND. This is not about ME. It's about YOU….and what YOU SAID. Enjoy your offseason."

Since the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers last Saturday, Brown has held multiple livestreams where he's discussed a variety of topics that have received backlash.

He called out the officiating and accused the referees of harboring an agenda. His comments earned him a $50,000 fine from the NBA.

"They clearly had an agenda," he said. "Maybe because I spoke and was critical of refs in the regular season. So they responded, 'You're gonna lead the playoffs in offensive fouls.' That's how that was, the response from the officiating crew. You could clearly tell.

"And I've actually spoke to some refs, and they said it was an agenda going into each game. 'So anytime Jaylen brings his arm up, just from reputation, just call it.'"

Brown also took a shot at Sixers' star Joel Embiid, saying that he "flops."

"Flopping has ruined our league," Brown said. "Joel Embiid is one of the greatest players that has played basketball, but he flops. He knows it too."

Perhaps the comment that drew the most ire was Brown saying that the 2025-26 campaign was his "favorite year" of his career. While Brown personally put together his best season, the Celtics were without his co-star, Jayson Tatum, for most of the season. Boston also fell well short of winning the title.

That comment has, of course, led to plenty of discourse and kick-started the annual offseason tradition of asking whether the Celtics should split Brown and Tatum up.

Brown doubled down on his comments on a recent livestream, though he clarified that he could play in Boston "for the next 10 years" if it were up to him.

Brown had his first true MVP-caliber season this year, posting 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists, all of which were career highs, so it's understandable why he enjoyed the 2025-26 campaign so much.

Brad Stevens, the team's president of basketball operations, addressed Brown's comments this week, saying that he spoke to Brown and it was "nothing but positive."