Now that Jaylen Brown plays for the Philadephia 76ers, rumors are trickling about why the former NBA Finals MVP is no longer with the Boston Celtics.
The messy divorce between Brown and the team that selected him in 2016 may have seemed surprising to some, especially considering the Celtics did not fetch tremendous draft capital in addition to Paul George. The relationship between the two parties had clearly soured enough that it was time for a new chapter, though.
ESPN's Shams Charania (and other insiders) reported that even though Brown had not requested a trade, the Celtics were talking to approximately 10 teams about a potential transaction. But during a recent radio broadcast, former Boston big man and Sirius XM NBA Radio co-host Brian Scalabrine
suggested otherwise.
Brain Scalabrine says Jaylen Brown told the Boston Celtics to trade him:
— Kalshi Hoops (@KalshiHoops) October 26, 2026
"My understanding is that he demanded to be traded, not to the media, but to the organization... I don't understand [why he's mad at Tatum]. I think Jaylen Brown lives in his own reality. Because it wasn't…
Scalabrine said the following while speaking with Frank Isola:
"My understanding of this thing is that he demanded to be traded not through the media but to the organization ... I think Jaylen Brown lives in his own reality. Because it wasn't documented that he demanded to be traded ... now he can say that it was Tatum's fault ... 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."
As noted by Scalabrine, there is already a bit of public tension between Brown and his longtime teammate Jayson Tatum.
ESPN's Kris Rhim, however, said a representative from Brown's camp called the rest of this report "10,000 percent" a fabrication.
Drew Carter and Brian Scalabrine taking about Scal’s comments on the radio today https://t.co/VyfjTPuiiH pic.twitter.com/Ldad81lQHO
— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) October 26, 2026
Later on Monday evening, Scalabrine effectively issued a retraction during a TV hit:
"Technically, he didn't demand to be traded ... I just summed it all up. I summed up the entire word salad and kept it simple. But that's what kind of got me in trouble there ... I don't know what the ultimatum was or the demands or whatever it was. But he technically did not demand to get traded. It was: Do these things right here or else."
That is obviously a different sentiment from Scalabrine than what we heard earlier in the day.
While the truth may fall somewhere in between, here is what Brown said at the time of the deal:
"Maybe one day, we’ll share the details on how everything transpired and all the moving parts that took place in this. Obviously, there’s a lot of speculation. I feel no need to chime in on it because I’m focused on what’s in front of me.”
After the season, Brown was expected to have uncomfortable conversations after he had reportedly grown frustrated with Boston's approach.
Following the trade, he also added that the organization showed him a lack of respect during the process.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ex-Celtics big retracts notion Jaylen Brown 'demanded' trade
