Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Rips ‘Overemotional Ref’ After Ejection Vs. Knicks

Jaylen Brown didn’t last all four quarters on the floor Friday night, ejected for the first time in his eight-year NBA career during the Boston Celtics’ victory over the New York Knicks.

Brown was called for a personal foul on New York’s Immanuel Quickley in the fourth quarter, and after a few words of protest, received a technical foul. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla wisely seated Brown on the bench and while still chatty there, the same official assessed a second technical, tossing the two-time All-Star from the game with 7:19 minutes remaining.

The 27-year-old then had to be held back by Celtics staffers and security amid trying to confront the ref. Careless about the potential fines that will come his way, Brown was equally heated after the game.

“I wish I would’ve got my money’s worth. I always thought my first career ejection would be something a little more exciting. Maybe a tussle or something, you know, guys get folded up to the ground,” Brown told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Not some overemotional ref who had a bad day. What I’m most upset about is I should’ve got my (expletive) money’s worth.”

When addressing Brown’s ejection, Mazzulla did reveal that an expletive-involved response could’ve been the lead cause, but also mentioned that Brown’s words didn’t cross the line of the norm for player-referee debate.

“I think there’s a difference between showing emotion and it being disrespectful or derogatory toward another person,” Brown added. “I wasn’t directing it toward him whatsoever. Especially on the second one. It wasn’t even close, I’m on the bench. I’m talking from the sideline, he can’t even hear anything I’m saying. So he called a tech from across the court. That’s for sure had to do with somebody having their emotions too involved in whatever else is going on and they excessing their power with technical fouls.”

Brown finished the night with 17 points and four assists. His ejection gave the Celtics their second major ejection in a week after teammate Jayson Tatum was tossed in the third quarter of last Friday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers — for a call that ended up being overturned in hindsight by the league office.

The ejection also gave Brown his 23rd and 24th career techs.