Stephen A. Smith insists Boston Celtics fans ‘lost love’ for Jaylen Brown

Stephen A. Smith has soured on Jaylen Brown in recent months, and he believes the Boston Celtics and their fans similarly fell out of love with the former Finals MVP.

With the Miami Heat winning the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, the Celtics now need to either welcome Brown back to the team after shopping him to the Milwaukee Bucks or find a new trade partner. Brown is a five-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA player, and a former Finals MVP. Keeping Brown would not be a bad consolation prize for Boston, although it might be somewhat awkward. But don’t expect any sympathy from Stephen A. Smith.

“We not gonna let you sit around and act like [you’re] a victim.”@stephenasmith has a message for Jaylen Brown 😳 pic.twitter.com/dmEwu1DvnJ

— First Take (@FirstTake) June 23, 2026

“One of the things we not gonna do, bro, is we not gonna let you sit around and act like you a victim,” Smith ranted Tuesday morning on First Take. “We ain’t gonna do that. We ain’t letting Jaylen Brown get away with that.

Smith recently cited Brown, saying all his doubters are just fueling him to become a monster. To which Smith wanted to know who those doubters and critics are, considering Brown was widely praised during the season for leading Boston to a No. 2 seed while Jayson Tatum spent most of the year recovering from a torn Achilles. One of those critics would presumably be Smith, who went back and forth with Brown several times in recent months, even threatening to expose the Celtics superstar. Despite their public bouts, Smith doesn’t seem to view himself as a critic.

“Don’t come with all that noise!” Smith continued. “Nobody sitting up there talking about Jalen Brown that way about his game. What we said was – since he is hesitant to remind the world about it – is that as a Boston Celtic, the most storied franchise in basketball annals…what we said was, less than 24 hours after losing a 3-1 lead and bowing out in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers, you went on camera of your own volition and called it your favorite season. That’s what we said. That was a problem. And Boston Celtics fans locally and everywhere have been going off about that. And they’ve lost love for Jaylen Brown.”

The Celtics and their fans may not have loved hearing Brown say that a first-round exit with Tatum sitting on the bench was his favorite season ever, but there are still a lot of Bostonians who love their most recent NBA Finals MVP. Even in recent days and weeks, many Celtics fans on social media expressed concern about trading Brown for Giannis.

It’s also interesting to hear Smith condemn Brown for attempting to use his critics as fuel. Because Smith has done the same thing with his own detractors. Earlier this year, Smith claimed his critics were trying to cancel him, and vowed to respond by being “Louder than ever, more outspoken than ever. More energized than ever.”

In April, Smith claimed his critics were trying to get him fired, and he responded by warning that it would only “unleash” him even more. Just as Smith questioned who is really doubting Brown after this last season, we’ll similarly ask the same thing. Who is really trying to get Stephen A. Smith canceled?