Jaylen Brown’s ongoing feud with Stephen A. Smith isn’t going anywhere — and the Celtics star only added to it Sunday night.
Brown, who was streaming to Twitch his followers, analyzed a clip where Smith talked about him on “First Take” and doubled down on his call for Smith to retire.
“F–k Stephen A,” Tatum said, according to video clips from the stream. “Stephen A, Stephen B, Stephen C. Like 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.”
The beef between the two high-profile names in sports and sports media dates back to the end of Boston’s season, when Brown — tasked with being the Celtics’ anchor for most of the year until Jayson Tatum returned — called it his “favorite” of his career.
Smith then said Brown “needs to be quiet” and “go on vacation” unless he was trying to get traded, which then prompted Brown to write in an X post that he’ll be quiet when Smith retires.
Warning: Adult Language
“Tell this motherf–ker to retire because he’s the face of clickbait media at the point,” Brown said Sunday while streaming, “and maybe with his retirement we can spark a movement to get the rest of these motherf–kers out of here — or to also have some type of … forget journalistic integrity, actual integrity in order to hold themselves accountable to the bulls–t takes they put out.”
Brown collected a career-best 28.7 points per game during the regular season and made a fourth consecutive All-Star Game, but the Celtics, even with Tatum back in the lineup, were bounced in the first round by the 76ers.
He was also fined $50,000 for criticizing referees while on his livestream following their season-ending loss to Philadelphia, claiming that the officials have an “agenda.”
So instead of another deep playoff run, and instead of another chance to win another championship with the current core, Brown’s saga with Smith began.
And after the latest exchange Sunday, it doesn’t seem to be something that’ll disappear quickly.
