The NBA world was shocked to find out that the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two future first-round picks, and two second-round picks.
One of the main reasons why this trade was shocking was not just the incredible value that the 76ers received for Paul George’s contract ($110 million potentially owed to him over the next two seasons), but also the dynamic between the two superstars who are now teammates: Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown.
The former Celtics All-Star spent a significant amount of time this summer criticizing Joel Embiid for flopping. He first called him out right after the 76ers came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Celtics in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs.
“Embiid put a lot of pressure on us,” Brown said. “On all our bigs, on our guards, we didn’t really have an answer for him. We tried a bunch of different things. He’s a big body, and he was also flopping around. He got some extra calls and stuff like that, and they rewarded him for that. But that’s the league that we’re in.”
“I don’t feel like they were a traditional 7th seed,” Brown added while also talking about Paul George. “I think that Paul George was playing at a high level. He was shooting the ball. For someone who just had his 36th birthday, he had a very efficient series, and he was very effective against some of the matchups that he was in. And then [Tyrese] Maxey was just doing what Maxey had been doing all year.”
“And then Embiid made the significant difference,” Brown continued. “We just didn’t really have an answer for Embiid in the games that he played. He was just a problem for us. And obviously, we didn’t know if he was going to be able to play because of his appendicitis or whatever you call it, but I think that made the difference.”
Subsequently, Brown received a lot of criticism for shifting the blame onto the 76ers instead of taking accountability for his actions. But instead, he chose to double down on his take during a livestream.
“This is just my personal opinion on basketball; some of y’all might disagree; argue with your Grandma. Flopping has ruined our game,” Brown said. “Joel Embiid is a great player. One of the best bigs in f—–g basketball history, flops! He knows it. This ain’t breaking news. It is what it is. I can clip it up, and y’all can use it on those paid bot accounts. That’s just my opinion.”
Earlier, Brown gave Nick Nurse and the 76ers their flowers, too, and later also explained why he had a problem with the calls that the 76ers’ former MVP was getting in the first-round series.
“They clearly had an agenda, maybe because I spoke so critically of them in the regular season. So you know how they responded? You’re going to lead the playoffs in offensive fouls. That was the response from the officiating crew; you can clearly tell.”
“I actually spoke to some refs, and they told me there’s an agenda going on in each game. Every time Jaylen puts his hands up, from reputation, call it. Paul George does the same thing; Jalen Brunson does the same thing. I can go down the list because it’s a basketball play, whether y’all believe it or not. Everybody does that when they drive, especially when they have bodies on them.”
“But Philly took advantage of that officiating, and it really cost us to some degree. But I’ve been doing that all regular season, and it was no problem. But now all of a sudden, it’s an offensive foul every time? You’ve got to keep that same energy with everybody else; that’s all I’ve got to say,” Brown concluded.
It seems that Brown’s frustrations were more directed towards the officials than his personal opinion on the type of player Joel Embiid is. He acknowledged that the 76ers only took advantage of the officials’ alleged bias against Jaylen Brown.
So it is natural to expect some friction between the teammates initially, even if it boils down to just locker room banter. But eventually, I am fairly confident that both professionals can put their past aside and now work together as teammates. Is the superstar duo capable of competing for a championship? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
