It hasn’t even been a month since the Boston Celtics ended their fighting season. Stephen A. Smith has already told the team’s star player Jaylen Brown, to “be quiet” twice. In response, Brown did not simply retaliate. He went on a deep dive to expose the veteran analyst’s journalism and his latest narrative involving Jayson Tatum.

On Sunday night, Brown returned to his Twitch stream prepared for a counterattack at the 58-year-old over the beef that’s been brewing over the past few weeks. It all initially began when Smith disagreed with JB for calling this past season his “favorite year” of his career. Now, the debate has taken on a larger shape, exposing media controlling the narratives and engaging in clickbait.

“I want you to be quiet and get off these networks because you are not using your platform to do real journalism,” Jaylen Brown said. “You are using a platform to use clickbait. However, before delivering that response, the Celtics star engaged in investigative journalism. 

Following the backlash from fans on the ‘favorite year’ comment, Stephen A. Smith took charge and questioned it as the team blew a 3-1 lead in the playoff first round, and played without Jayson Tatum for the majority of the season. Smith warned Brown to be quiet if he doesn’t want to get traded.

The criticism eventually turned personal, as Jaylen Brown, appearing on his stream, revisited the viral Stephen A. clip. In the clip, Smith claimed that Tatum appeared on his show First Take before featuring in Brown’s stream.

“Jayson Tatum showed up on First Take before he showed up on your damn show,” Smith had said.

Pausing the clip midway, JB questioned if that even mattered. “What does that have to do with basketball?  What does it have to do with performance? What does it have to do with anything relative to, like, the game?” He further argued that this was the reason why  he ‘called out’ the analyst. The Celtics star believes that media conversation should be centered on performance and other on-court activities rather than personality-driven narratives.

Following that, Smith once again hovered over Brown’s “favorite year” comments. It left Brown with no option other than explaining the comment himself. According to Brown, the comment had little to do with individual success and more to do with the Celtics’ adversity that season.

Why Jaylen Brown considers this season his favorite?

Right before asking Stephen A. Smith to get off the platform, Jaylen Brown explained why this past season was his favorite and also ripped apart the veteran analyst.

“He’s creating narratives saying that I had my favorite year because selfishly I had a better-performing year,” Brown said. However, that wasn’t the case.

Brown explained the state from which the team bounced back. Notably, compared to the championship year, the team had major lineup instability. The starters like Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis had moved out. Most importantly, Jayson Tatum almost missed the entire season recovering from an Achilles injury.

Despite the setback, the Celtics produced a 56-26 record and finished second in the East. Brown took pride in the team’s run. “We had to fight,” Brown said. “We showed up, we competed every single day, and we had to fight for every victory.”

JB also emphasized his joy, watching his teammates and “unproven” players take up bigger roles and succeeding in them. Brown considered it a test of leadership and chemistry in the locker room. 

Following that, he took final shots at Stephen A. Smith. “Maybe he doesn’t understand that,” Brown said. “Maybe he’s never had to fight for nothing in his life.

The mere back and forth between the veteran analyst and Jaylen Brown has taken shape into a larger debate, questioning the media narrative. Stephen A. Smith might have a response for this as well.

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