Jaylen Brown sat down for his introductory news conference as a Philadelphia 76er on Thursday and spent 25 minutes doing what he said he intended to do with this next chapter. Focus forward, not backward.
He said he was not fully surprised when he learned he had been traded from the Boston Celtics to a division rival that had eliminated Boston in the first round of the playoffs last season, because his name had come up in trade conversations so regularly over his 10 years with the organization. He was disappointed by how the organization communicated, but threw his phone across the room, then started talking to his new teammates almost immediately.
Tyrese Maxey was among the first to reach out, telling Brown he was excited to have him. Brown said he has been in contact with Maxey, second-year guard VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid and LeBron James every day since the trade through texting and the team’s group chat.
What led to the trade and how Brown experienced it
He acknowledged the offseason had been chaotic, describing it as a threshold that was higher than anything he had encountered before. His name had been part of trade conversations involving Giannis Antetokounmpo before the Celtics ultimately sent him to Philadelphia. He said people attacked his character during the process, including someone who he said made a comment suggesting he had a disease.
He described the transition as genuinely crazy, while acknowledging that nothing about it was completely surprising. There had been internal conversations alongside everything happening externally. Being sent to a team he had competed against and viewed as a rival for a decade was its own adjustment, he said, separate from everything else.
He made clear he was not there to complain, and that his attitude was to get to it.
The opportunity in Philadelphia
The 76ers have assembled an unusual collection of talent. He joins Embiid, Maxey and James on a roster that is among the most talked-about in the league heading into next season. He said he understands what the opportunity represents, and that earning the respect of the city and coaching staff is where his attention is directed.
He was candid about what makes assembling a group like this challenging. High-talent rosters require sacrifice and trust, and he said he plans to come in with his intentions on the table. He said he wants to win and that the group can figure out how to work around each other with mutual respect. He said he is looking forward to learning from James, citing what James has endured over his career on and off the floor.
James and Brown have a prior connection. In February, after Brown’s Celtics defeated James’s Lakers in Los Angeles, James publicly praised Brown for how he had carried Boston while Jayson Tatum recovered from an Achilles injury, saying Brown was averaging close to 30 points in a situation where no one had expected much from the team. He finished sixth in MVP voting despite the Celtics’ second-place finish in the East.
His relationship with the Celtics and with Tatum
Brown said he is moving on from how the trade was handled, acknowledging that details might be shared someday but expressing no interest in adding to the speculation while focused on what is in front of him. He had made comments on a recent livestream about feeling a lack of respect from the organization in how it communicated with him during the trade process, but at the news conference he largely declined to expand on those remarks.
His relationship with Tatum, his former co-star and championship teammate, was the most personal question he addressed. The two had not really spoken since the trade, he said, but on his end there is nothing but respect. He cited their shared championship as something that creates a lasting bond while acknowledging that relationships have ups and downs. He said he hopes Tatum does well in every game except when the Celtics play the 76ers.
The franchise that beat him last spring is now his home. He said let’s get to it.
