Stephen A. Smith Reacts To Call-Out From Celtics’ Jaylen Brown

Stephen A. Smith irked Jaylen Brown over the weekend, but the ESPN host doesn’t have a problem with the Celtics star.

On Friday’s episode of “First Take,” Smith shared a text message from an “NBA source” who made a case for why Brown isn’t as “marketable” as other players of his caliber. The source argued the 27-year-old “is not liked because of his ‘I am better than you’ attitude.'”

Brown responded to Smith on Sunday night, asking the popular talking head to reveal his source. Smith did not oblige to the request but added context to the aforementioned segment.

“First off, that’s not happening. It’s journalism. Not revealing sources,” Smith posted to X. “Secondly, if you continue to watch the segment, I completely disagreed with them — as did Kendrick Perkins. The point we were actually discussing is how underappreciated you are and why that may be, which is why I read the quote. I even brought up how socially conscious you are, and how that may not be liked, knowing you’re a good brother. Also, that you’re a $300 million man and you deserve it. But that doesn’t mean naysayers don’t get heard. That comes with the territory.”

Much like not dwelling on missing out on the All-NBA teams, Brown shouldn’t spend much time and energy on this issue with Smith. The three-time All-Star is on a mission to win his first championship, and he can take another step toward the ultimate goal Monday night when the Celtics try to win the Eastern Conference.