Jaylen Brown’s 10 most controversial moments
Jaylen Brown led the Boston Celtics to an NBA title and even won Finals MVP, but Brown still has plenty of controversial moments.
Jaylen Brown currently holds the record as having signed the largest contract in the NBA. Although Brown had some doubters, he proved them wrong by leading the Boston Celtics to another championship with him named as the 2024 NBA Finals MVP.
Although Brown had a big year in the NBA, it seems like the recently crowned NBA champion has collected some controversies as of late. Here is Jaylen Brown’s 10 most controversial moments, ranked.
10. No left-hand jokes
Jaylen Brown is one of the best forwards in the NBA today. But throughout the 2023-2024 season, NBA fans targeted Brown for not being able to utilize his left hand, a head scratcher for a player of his caliber. According to reports, Brown has been caught on camera for his left hand’s effectiveness. In fact, Brown even lost a ball from his left hand against kids in Puerto Rico.
9. Throwing shade at other NBA stars not joining the Slam Dunk Contest
Jaylen Brown after tonight’s dunk contest: “I think, ultimately, in this media era, some players are just afraid to get turned into a meme or whatever. I wanted to come out and have fun within it and that’s what I did.”
At the 2024 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Brown became the first All-Star to participate in the event since DeAndre Jordan in 2017. Although Brown brought some star power to the Slam Dunk Contest, Brown left basketball fans unimpressed. However, the Celtics star stood by his decision on top of throwing shade at his All-Star counterparts.
8. Signing the largest contract in NBA history
Jaylen Brown has agreed to a five-year, $304 million supermax with the Celtics, per @ShamsCharania This is the biggest deal in NBA history
During the 2023 offseason, Brown shocked the NBA world after signing the largest contract in NBA history. Although Brown is an All-Star caliber player, the move certainly raised some eyebrows.
In fact, NBA Twitter didn’t take the signing so lightly, increasing the population of his doubters. However, Brown proved his doubters wrong by leading the Celtics to a title with him named as the 2024 NBA Finals MVP.
7. Words for Bronny James
Jaylen Brown said “I don’t think Bronny is a pro” 😳 pic.twitter.com/ywavJ4mzMU
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) July 16, 2024
In the ongoing offseason, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP made the headlines for the wrong reasons. While watching a Los Angeles Lakers-Celtics game in the NBA Summer League, Brown was caught mouthing some words to WNBA star Angel Reese and Kysre Gondrezick.
Mouth readers appeared to translate Brown’s statements as a hit against Lakers rookie Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. Immediately, the reigning Finals MVP defended himself against those statements on social media.
6. Politics and Sports
Jaylen Brown: 'Sport is a mechanism of control in America' https://t.co/KOWF4bZ5Fl via @guardian_sport
— The Guardian (@guardian) January 9, 2018
Brown is easily an overachiever on and off the court with stacked accolades both in the NBA and the academe. With regards to politics, the Celtics star has never been shy about expressing his opinions. In fact, he made this polarizing statement above that certainly turned some heads.
5. Retweeting an anti-vaccine stance
🚨 BREAKING:
In COVID hearing, #Pfizer director admits: #vaccine was never tested on preventing transmission.
"Get vaccinated for others" was always a lie.
The only purpose of the #COVID passport: forcing people to get vaccinated.
The world needs to know. Share this video! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/su1WqgB4dO
— Rob Roos 🇳🇱 (@Rob_Roos) October 11, 2022
Jaylen Brown is credible when it comes to knowledge. However, it certainly caught NBA fans off-guard when Brown decided to retweet a post filled with controversial statements against the COVID-19 vaccine. Brown also refused to reveal his vaccination status to the public. The surprising move certainly let fans have a glimpse of Brown’s stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.
4. Jaylen Brown’s caption puts him in hot water
Jaylen Brown, VP of the National Basketball Players Association, appears to be a fan of Israel United in Christ. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated IUIC as a hate group for its antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ and anti-white rhetoric. splcenter.org/fighting-hate/…
Back in 2022, Brown was caught under fire for his caption on social media. He seemingly retweeted a group that turned out to be Israel United in Christ. The group was reportedly supporting Kyrie Irving’s anti-Semitic actions. Angering a lot of fans, Brown clarified that he didn’t endorse the group and mistakenly assumed it was a fraternity group, as per sources.
3. Jaylen Brown defends Kyrie Irving amidst antisemitic controversy
Jaylen Brown: “I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic,” “The terms for his return, they seem like a lot, and a lot of the players expressed discomfort with the terms. He made a mistake. He posted something. There was no distinction.” (Via @GwashburnGlobe )
Speaking of anti-Semitism, Brown was one who defended his former teammate Kyrie Irving when the latter promoted content on social media that many deemed anti-Semitic. Given Irving’s controversy, it was surprising to see Brown to defend the actions of Irving.
Brown did admit that his former teammate made a mistake. As the Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association, the Celtics star even blasted Nets owner Joe Tsai for Irving’s punishment, as per reports.
2. Staying with Donda Sports amidst Kanye West’s anti-Semitic controversy
Interesting comments from Jaylen here to @GwashburnGlobe, but he doesn’t really distance himself from Kanye.https://t.co/FqFhdihLCL via @BostonGlobe
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) October 24, 2022
Kanye West also found himself in hot water for making statements criticized as being anti-Semitic. But despite the controversy, Brown opted to remain with West’s group named Donda Sports, as per reports.
But 24 hours later, the Celtics star reversed his decision and cut off ties with West’s marketing agency. It was certainly one of the most controversial moves made by the Celtics star.
1. Blasting Nike for his Team USA omission
Did Nike keep Jaylen Brown off Team USA’s Olympic team? 🤔 After Derrick White was announced as Kawhi Leonard’s replacement for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Jaylen Brown has seemingly placed the blame on Nike for him not receiving an invitation to the team 👀 Since…
The most controversial moment happening recently surrounding Jaylen Brown is his omission from the Team USA squad bound for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Brown has been strong on his stance against Nike, opting to cover the Nike logo throughout the championship season.
Unhappy with not making the team and three Celtics teammates part of the roster, even with Kawhi Leonard begging off, Brown made sure to express his disappointment publicly.
