Donovan Mitchell Slams Rumor on Jaylen Brown from Colin Cowherd After Celtics-76ers Trade

Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell called out rumors regarding Jaylen Brown from Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd after Brown was traded from the Boston Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.

"Critique basketball all you want… but disease is insane… we gotta stop letting people just say whatever… cmon man!" Mitchell wrote in a Thursday post on X.

Cowherd previously reported that Brown "thinks he's the smartest guy in every room he's in" on The Colin Cowherd Podcast.

"I had two NBA sources … two people in the league, one an executive, one a scout, say that Jaylen Brown has — it's a disease," Cowherd said (0:08 mark). "He suddenly thinks he's the smartest guy in every room he's in … You make a lot of money, suddenly you're absolutely sure, you don't wanna listen to your bosses, you don't wanna listen to consultants, you don't wanna listen to teammates."

The Celtics traded Brown to the 76ers in exchange for Paul George, two first-round draft picks and two second-round picks.

The change of scenery occurred after Boston reportedly included Brown in a trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the Milwaukee Bucks star was ultimately dealt to the Miami Heat.

Still, the Celtics' return for Brown was fairly surprising after he wrapped up a 2025-26 campaign in which he earned All-NBA Second Team honors and finished No. 6 in MVP voting.

The five-time All-Star averaged a career-high 28.7 points and 5.1 assists per game, shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from behind the arc.

Brown helped the Celtics finish with a 56-26 record, a particularly impressive mark considering Jayson Tatum missed the majority of the regular season while he recovered from a torn Achilles.

As for Brown and Mitchell, the two stars have been friends since high school and bonded while playing in the bubble to close out the 2019-20 season (h/t Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston).

Mitchell is coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which he averaged 27.9 points per game on 48.3/36.4/86.5 shooting splits.