Jaylen Brown Calls Out Colin Cowherd for His ‘Disease’ Comment & Pushing False Narrative

He is an NBA champion, a Finals MVP with a fellowship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School’s executive education program during his playing career. Credentials that place Jaylen Brown among the most academically accomplished athletes in the league.

Days after his blockbuster trade from Boston to Philadelphia, an anonymous source told a national broadcaster that Brown’s problem is that he thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room.

Brown has not let it go.

The controversy began with Colin Cowherd. He cited two unnamed NBA sources, characterising Brown’s confidence as pathological.

“I had two NBA sources - two people in the league, one an executive, one a scout - say that Jaylen Brown has, it’s a disease,” Cowherd said. “He suddenly thinks he’s the smartest guy in every room he’s in. You make a lot of money, suddenly you’re absolutely sure, you don’t wanna listen to your bosses, you don’t wanna listen to consultants, you don’t wanna listen to teammates.”

The comment came after Boston traded Brown to the 76ers for Paul George and four draft picks. A deal ESPN’s Shams Charania described as the Celtics “full-blown shopping” their two-time champion despite him averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists last season.

Brown addressed it on a Twitch livestream.

“Colin, to quote him, he said it’s a disease, or quote one of his sources, like, these people is crazy, bro," Brown said on Twitch (h/t) Mind of Bron. "Y’all got to see it. These companies be crazy, corporations be crazy. They be lying to us, they be putting propaganda out, putting out false statements, stuff that’s not even true.”

“We’ve got to stop with the damn anonymous sources," he continued. "I’m tired of the damn anonymous sources.”

An unnamed executive and an unnamed scout can say virtually anything about a player. Without ever facing a follow-up question, a request for evidence, or public accountability for being wrong.

Brown’s response drew immediate support from one of his closest friends in the league. Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell posted publicly in his defence: “Critique basketball all you want, but disease is insane. We gotta stop letting people just say whatever. C’mon, man.”

Why Jaylen Brown’s Pushback Extends Beyond One Comment

Cowherd had separately criticised professional athletes for livestreaming their reactions rather than working through traditional PR channels. Brown rejected that take.

“I think the world craves authenticity right now,” he said. “Everything is so PR, so scripted, so packaged, that I feel like people want to see what the real emotion is, what’s real, rather than this fake political propaganda that we get delivered in a bunch of different industries, including sports, including music, including politics.”

This is not the first time Brown’s intelligence has been used against him rather than for him. He has spoken publicly before about feeling that his 'articulateness' and willingness to speak on social and political issues have been used by some corners of media as evidence of arrogance rather than depth.