A lot has been made of Jaylen Brown’s ejection vs. the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night, with different takes fueling debate shows, podcasts, and social media wars.
Brown’s take, aside from a post on X in the immediate aftermath of the incident, hadn’t been given until after Boston’s loss against Oklahoma City.
After originally saying he didn’t have a comment on it, Brown said, “obviously I was pissed that I didn’t get to compete in that game. That was another big time matchup that I had circled on my calendar. Obviously, playing against the Spurs, it was a good team, and I came out to a great start. I felt great. I felt like I was ready to have a big-time performance.”
He was, indeed, on his way to one. Stylistically, it was one of the best games of his life. He was in complete control of the game when he had the ball, and he already had seven assists when he got tossed just before halftime.
Brown admits he should have controlled his emotions better, but he doesn’t think the ejection was warranted.
“In certain spots, maybe I could have been a little bit better,” he told reporters in Oklahoma City. “But, you’re passionate, it’s a big game, you want to see emotion, you want to see your star players showing that emotion.
“I don’t think I deserved to get tossed. And I think the NBA agreed because I didn’t get fined or anything like that.”
The NBA’s lack of a fine does come off as a sort of endorsement of Brown’s line of thinking. If Brown was in the wrong, he might have faced further punishment, especially considering his prior criticism of the officiating. He was fined $35,000 for a rant after their loss to San Antonio at home earlier this season.
The main issue for all the Celtics who commented wasn’t just that Brown got thrown out, it’s that Crew Chief Tyler Ford wasn’t the one to eject Brown, even though he was the one being directly confronted by Brown. On video, it seemed like Ford was telling Brown to calm down and retreat. Umpire Suyash Mehta came in and gave Brown his second technical, despite not being directly confronted.
That dynamic ultimately led to a classic Joe Mazzulla comment.
“I just give a ton of credit to my high school principal. He had the balls to throw a student out,” Mazzulla said. “He didn’t leave it to the hall monitor.”
Mehta is clearly the hall monitor in that example.
As much as Mazzulla is trying to protect his player, he’s also making a point that Ford had the situation under control and didn’t need any help. Something he said more directly on Thursday.
“I thought the head official, Tyler Ford, I thought he handled it very well,” Mazzulla said on his weekly radio appearance. “And I think that’s part of the relationship between players and officials as they continue to grow. And Tyler has been around a long time.”
Brown has had a lot to say about the officials all season long, but as far as this incident is concerned, Brown is over it.
“It is what it is,” He said. “People make mistakes, But I’m just looking forward.”