Jaylen Brown tells Stephen A. Smith to 'retire' after heat over 'favorite season' comment
We now have beef between Jaylen Brown and Stephen A. Smith.
Boston Celtics superstar guard Jaylen Brown implored for ESPN sports personality Stephen A. Smith to "retire" after taking heat from the firebrand analyst over recent comments. After Brown recently doubled down on calling the 2025-26 campaign his favorite season of his career so far, Smith admonished the Celtics standout for his rhetoric.
To Smith, Brown's comments were reckless because this was also the season where fellow Boston superstar Jayson Tatum was largely absent with his Achilles tear and one where the team blew a 3-1 lead to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs. Brown has been part of an NBA title team with the Celtics, after all. "He needs to be quiet," Smith said during his segment, "unless you're trying to get traded.
" Well, Brown didn't take too kindly to Smith's critiques and tweeted on Thursday that he'd "be quiet" once Smith decided to "give the people what they want" and retire. Ouch. I’ll “be quiet” / stop streaming if you “be quiet” and retire let’s give the people what they want https://t.
co/uRiHDyvIHo — Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) May 7, 2026 We're not sure what Brown's future in Boston is, but we do know there's clearly no love lost between him as Smith. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jaylen Brown tells Stephen A. Smith to 'retire' after heat over 'favorite season' comment