Jaylen Brown once again is at odds with NBA officials that led to his ejection Tuesday night during the Celtics 125-116 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
While it was only the second ejection of his 10-year NBA career, Brown's teammates and coaches showed how much they support him and have his back -- especially since they didn't think he deserve to be tossed in the first place.
With 3:42 left to play in the second quarter, Brown attempted to dribble out of a double team of Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama, when Castle extended his hands, causing Brown to fall and lose the ball out of bounds. Officiating crew chief Tyler Ford didn't call a foul, and Brown approached Ford to argue the non-call before he was issued a technical foul. Referee Suyash Mehta ran towards the Celtics All-Star and Ford and assessed a second technical as Brown continued pleading his case while being held back by teammates and team security, resulting in an automatic ejection.
"I understand completely where Jaylen's coming from," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters. "Absolutely. I got his back 100%. I think he was 100% right to be frustrated and to do what he did."
Brown, who followed up his ejection with a social media post -- just moments after leaving the court -- sent out a tweet on X that read, "This the shit I be talking about." He hasn't been quiet when it comes to criticizing officials throughout this season, despite the threat of fines and has even called certain ones out by name.
Mazzulla started his postgame presser with an obvious jab at the situation of Metha stepping in to save Ford by running over to blow his whistle and hand out the second technical on Brown.
"Just give a ton of credit to my high school principal," Mazzulla said. "He had the balls to throw a student out. He didn't leave it to the hall monitor."Mazzulla then added: "He was a hell of a principal."
Still, Brown is having an MVP-type of year and in a season that many didn't have much expectations for the Celtics -- with Jayson Tatum sidelined for what most believed until the start of 2026-27 campaign -- the quick double-techs is being viewed as an absurd decision giving Boston and the Spurs each having the second best record in their respective conferences and it was a national televised matchup on top of everything.
"I disagree with it," Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. "The NBA makes a big deal about prime-time games and stars playing and being available. He definitely got pushed. First tech, probably warranted -- the emotions are high -- but the second tech, you gotta understand it's a national TV game between two of the best teams in the league. You make a big deal about stars playing, then you're trigger-happy to throw somebody out of the game. So I disagree with it."
According to ESPN's Michael Wright -- who conducted the Pool Report -- Ford said Brown's first technical foul was "for aggressively pointing and using profanity in response to the no-call," while the second tech and ejection came because "he aggressively approached a game official while pointing and using profanity." Regarding the no-call itself involving Castle, Ford said the officials observed no illegal contact.
Brown, who has only missed six of the Celtics' 65 games, was up to eight points on 4-of-8 shooting and seven assists in 15 minutes of game action before being ejected and Boston had a 51-49 advantage over the Spurs just prior to halftime.
Derrick White also echoed what Mazzulla and Tatum said when asked about his teammate and getting back-to-back technical fouls rather quickly and there being no leeway -- something most superstars get in today's NBA in similar situations.
"I think he got fouled, too," White told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. "He definitely earned the first one. I thought the second one was bullshit, honestly."
Despite Brown's ejection, the Celtics tried to use that as a motivator, but Wembanyama took advantage and his 39-point double-double proved too much to overcome, as San Antonio scored 67 points in the second half following a 58-58 tie at the break. Tatum in just his third game back, shot 4-of-14 from deep, and the bench -- with the exception of Ron Harper Jr. netting a career-high 22 points -- was nonexistent with Payton Pritchard (neck spasm in the lineup) also out, the Celtics simply ran out of gas down the stretch.
White, who had a team high 34 points, still couldn't comprehend why Brown was tossed in a critical game for both teams.
"You can't throw out a guy who's done so much for us all year, and in a game like this, especially," he told reporters. "How do you throw him out? I think that was ridiculous, and it was tough, obviously, to basically play the whole second half without him. I feel like for a lot of the game -- I don't know how much time was on the clock -- but I thought that was ridiculous."
Brown criticized the referee crew that officiated the Jan. 10 contest in which the Celtics suffered a 100-95 loss to these very same Spurs and the didn't hold back to the point of stating he'll gladly take a fine from the league -- seemingly unconcerned as he couldn't understand a reason for having a total of zero trips to the free throw line that night, calling it "extremely frustrating."
"I feel like, honestly, they just got away with a lot, and I'm tired of the inconsistency," Brown told reporters back in January. "I'll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some bullshit tonight. I think [the Spurs are] a good defensive team, but they ain't that damn good.
"I hope somebody can just pull up the clips, because it's the same shit every time we play a good team. It's like they refuse to make a call then call touch fouls on the other end."
The league, who normally fine players or coaches $25,000 for any sort of criticism of game officials, handed a Brown a $35,000 fine for his comments.
The Celtics (43-22) face the Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15) Thursday night to conclude their three-game road trip. Prime Video has the tip-off at 9:30 pm ET from the Paycom Center.
Joel Pavón
No comments:
Post a Comment