Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said he’d pay the fine for his postgame rant against the officiating crew after Boston’s 100-95 loss to the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
The time has come to pay up, as the NBA on Monday fined Brown $35,000 for his public criticism of the officiating.
The fine comes in response to extended comments made to reporters after Saturday’s game and at least two posts on X.
“I feel like, honestly, they just got away with a lot, and I’m tired of the inconsistency. I’ll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some bulls— tonight. I think (the Spurs are) a good defensive team, but they ain’t that damn good,” Brown said.
“I hope somebody can just pull up the clips, because it’s the same s— every time we play a good team. It’s like they refuse to make a call, then call touch fouls on the other end. That’s just extremely frustrating, bro. Like, we play hard. We were outplaying our expectations. We compete hard on the defensive end. Then they reward the other team with touch fouls. Then we go down there and guys are allowed to get away with … I hope, just somebody please pull it up.”
Brown called out officiating crew chief Curtis Blair by name in his postgame comments.
“Every time we play a good team, the inconsistency is crazy. I’ll take the f—ing fine. Curtis, all them dudes was terrible tonight,” Brown said. “I don’t care. They can fine me whatever they want. But it’s crazy. Every time we play a good team, it’s the same bulls—. Somebody please pull up the clips.”
Brown also bemoaned the lack of fouls called against San Antonio. The Celtics were 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, with two of those coming with just 37 seconds left in the game. The Spurs, on the other hand, went 14-for-20 from the free-throw line.
“If we can’t get to the free-throw line and teams are allowed to be physical and bump us off our spots, et cetera, then it’s hard to win games like that,” Brown said. “We shot four free throws tonight and lost the game by four. Not to say that’s the whole game, the whole story. We got to be better in spots. I got to be better in spots. But goddamn. I’m driving to the basket. I’m physical. I don’t flop. I don’t shy away from contact. I go up strong. I’m athletic. And nothing. Zero free throws tonight. The inconsistency is f—ing crazy. Give me the fine.”
With Jayson Tatum sidelined with an Achilles tear, Brown has been having an MVP-candidate season for the Celtics, averaging 29.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 36 games. But he shot just 11-for-28 from the field against the Spurs and was responsible for five of Boston’s 10 turnovers.
