IMAGN IMAGES / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown did not hold back in his latest rant about ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. On his latest stream, Brown called out Stephen A. Smith for misusing his platform across all of the ESPN shows to perpetuate clickbait in lieu of any actual journalism.
This came after Stephen A. Smith recently tried to dunk on Jaylen Brown with a silly comment on First Take. Stephen A. sees it as somehow a sign of a poisoned relationship between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum that Tatum opted to appear on ESPN at some point instead of Jaylen’s stream.
Jaylen Brown Goes Off On Stephen A. Smith
While there is not a ton of profanity in the video, Jaylen Brown does kick the clip off with a profane statement directed at Stephen A. Smith. So if you would prefer not to hear that and are someone who is bothered by profanity, the full censored quotes are below the video.
So you’re a reader and not a watcher. Here’s what was said…
Jaylen Brown opens by saying “he just said that I need to be quiet? Be quiet, for who? F— Stephen A… Stephen A, Stephen B, Stephen C. My offer still stands… You want me to be quiet and stop screaming. Well, I want you to be quiet and get off these networks. Because you’re not using your platform to do real journalism. You’re using your platform to do clickbait. Let’s go back and use Example A, you’re talking about JT not coming on my stream and this is the journalism that you’re referring to.”
Jaylen Brown then rolls a clip of Stephen A. Smith saying “Tatum hasn’t appeared on Jaylen Brown’s program. You know where Jayson Tatum was? Right here on First Take.”
Brown finishes it off by saying “he thought he ate with that one too like ‘he was right here on First Take.’ Man, nobody gives a damn about no damn First Take.”
Interestingly, First Take saw an enormous boost in ratings last week after Skip Bayless joined the show for the duo’s first appearance together in a decade. First Take ratings were up to an average of 647,000 viewers, a 24% boost caused by Skip. That said, First Take typically outperforms SportsCenter in the ratings due primarily to there being multiple episodes of SportsCenter throughout the day.
With all of that in mind, Jaylen Brown does seem to be someone who would know whether or not his peers in the NBA care at all about appearing on FirstTake. If he says nobody cares about being on Stephen A. Smith’s show there’s no reason to not believe him, right?
Their feud goes back years. Jaylen Brown wore a shirt at the Celtics’ 2024 championship parade specifically to troll Stephen A. Smith. That came after Stephen A. had called Jaylen out in the weeks prior for allegedly having an ‘I am better than you’ attitude.
It’s only a matter of time until Stephen A. Smith responds to Jaylen Brown’s latest comments, given their past together.