Celtics broadcaster walks back report that Jaylen Brown 'demanded to be traded'

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Oct 26, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

BOSTON — Brian Scalabrine, the former Boston Celtics player-turned-color analyst for NBC Sports Boston, shared an explosive new report Monday about Jaylen Brown’s exit from Boston.

Scalabrine said multiple times during his SiriusXM NBA Radio show that Brown “demanded to be traded” by the Celtics, who dealt him to the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason. He also said Brown was hoping to be traded to the Bucks and even spoke with teammates about joining him in Milwaukee.

“My understanding of this thing is that (Brown) demanded to be traded,” Scalabrine said. “Not through the media, but to the organization.”

Hours later, Scalabrine walked back parts of that report during NBC Sports Boston’s pregame show

“To be fair, after the 48 calls I’ve fended today and I listened, he technically didn’t demand any trade,” he said. “… I just summed it all up. I summed up the entire word salad and kept it simple. But I think that’s what kind of got me in trouble there.”

He added: “I don’t know what the ultimatum was or the demands or whatever it was. So he technically did not demand to be traded. It was, ‘Do these things right here or else.’ And one of them might have been, like, ‘Give me the $140 million extension’ (for which Brown would have been eligible this offseason). I haven’t gotten to the bottom of all of that. I didn’t even know this was going to be a thing.”

Brown’s fraught relationship with former Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum has dominated headlines since last Thursday, when the former called the latter’s retelling of the trade “cap” (aka untruthful) via an Instagram comment emoji. (Tatum said he “was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world” when he saw Brown had been shipped to Philly.)

On Friday, Tatum insisted he had “no beef” with Brown, would “welcome” a conversation with him and found the whole controversy “frustrating.” Brown fired back on Saturday, saying there “there might be a little lamb chops and some gravy” between the pair and that Tatum “should stay ready at all times.”

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla weighed in Sunday, saying he was “grateful” for Brown’s accomplishments but “focused on Jayson,” whom he called “our best player (and) our highest-character guy.”

Scalabrine’s radio co-host, Frank Isola, asked why Brown would be angry at Tatum if he requested a trade. (When the deal was finalized in July, multiple outlets reported Brown did not ask to be traded.)

“That’s what I said! I don’t understand,” Scalabrine said Monday afternoon. “I think Jaylen Brown lives in his own reality. Because it wasn’t being documented that he demanded to be traded, I don’t think that anybody thinks that — now he can say that it was Tatum’s fault. Like, he can just make stuff up.

“But my understanding is that Jaylen Brown went to the organization and had a list of demands, and it was like, ‘You either do this, or you trade me.’ And he was rooting to get traded to Milwaukee, including calling some other teammates about, ‘Hey, man, what do you think of Milwaukee? We should go there.'”

The Celtics reportedly made an offer to the Bucks that would have sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Boston and Brown to Milwaukee. After the Miami Heat beat them out for Antetokounmpo, they traded Brown to the rival Sixers instead for Paul George and four future draft picks.

President of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the Celtics decided to move Brown — their longest-tenured player at the time and the 10th-leading scorer in franchise history — because they believed it was no longer feasible to have two high-usage players occupying 70% of their salary cap. Stevens acknowledged in July that the trade was “obviously unpopular, and most people think it will be wrong.”

The first Celtics-76ers matchup of the season is set for Nov. 10 in Philadelphia.

____