As Jaylen Brown sat courtside at a Summer League game, he was seen making a critical comment about Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James.
With cameras catching Brown’s statement, the moment went viral for all to see. Two years later, the viral video is still fresh in LeBron James’ mind, as he brought it up on Sunday night, following a Lakers-Celtics game.
“Our relationship has been pretty respectful. Besides the [expletive] he said about Bronny at Summer League—but other than that—we’ve been alright,” James told reporters. “We’ll be alright. … I think he went on social media and said something about it. It’s all good. Bronny got a long way to go, but that’s another story.”
Brown wasn’t confident in Bronny’s ability to make it in the NBA. During his rookie season, Bronny appeared in 27 games, averaging 2.3 points. In year two, Bronny has split time between the Los Angeles Lakers and their G League affiliate in South Bay. As LeBron suggested, he’s got a long way to go.
While Jaylen Brown clearly struck a nerve with LeBron over the comments, there are no hard feelings. Brown landed plenty of praise from the Lakers’ superstar on Sunday.
“[He’s] playing great basketball, man. This whole MVP thing, I don’t understand why his name is not getting talked about some as well. Nobody gave them a shot to start the season. He’s averaging what? 30? It’s a popularity contest sometimes,” said James.
Heading into the 2025-2026 NBA season, Brown understood he would spent a most of the season as the Celtics’ primary scoring option. He delivered.
In 50 games, Jaylen Brown has averaged 29.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He was an All-Star for the fourth year in a row, but he’s far from an MVP favorite. James doesn’t believe that should be the case.
“I just think he used the motivation of a lot of people just saying that they are going to have a down year because of [Jayson Tatum] being out. Them losing Jrue [Holiday], Al [Horford] leaves, [Kristaps] Porzingis leaves. Their whole championship team is kind of revamped,” James said. “He used it as motivation to keep them afloat. They are playing great basketball, and it’s because of him and the rest of those guys that he’s taking that next step.
Brown and the Celtics dominated the Lakers with a 111-89 win on Sunday. Brown checked in for 36 minutes and produced 32 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
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