"GIVE ME THE FINE": WHY JAYLEN BROWN RISKED $35,000 TO DEFEND THE CELTICS
Jaylen Brown is $35,000 lighter. Discover the full details of the Celtics star's fiery rant against NBA refs after the Spurs' loss.
Just a few days after telling reporters he’d take the hit for calling out NBA refs, Celtics star Jaylen Brown got slapped with a $35,000 fine.
James Jones, who runs basketball ops for the NBA, handed down the penalty on Monday, blaming Brown’s “public criticism of the officiating.”
Brown’s making $53 million this season, so let’s be real, he’s not losing sleep over the fine. Still, fans had his back. They jumped in online, saying stuff like, “It’s pocket change for him, but it still sucks.” Plenty of people chimed in with, “They always penalise honesty.”
After Saturday’s loss to the Spurs, Brown didn’t hold back. Boston only got four free throws in a 100-95 loss, while the Spurs went 14-for-20 from the line. Brown told reporters, “I’ll accept the fine at this point,” and then let loose. “I thought it was some bull *** tonight. They’re a good defensive team, but they aren’t that damn good. I hope somebody pulls up the clips because it’s the same s*** every time we play a good team. They refuse to make a call, then call touch fouls on the other end. It’s just extremely frustrating, bro. Every time we play a good team, the inconsistency is crazy. I’ll take the fucking fine.”
He even called out one of the refs by name. “Curtis and all those dudes were terrible tonight. I don’t care. They can fine me whatever they want.”
The NBA loves to fine players for profanity, especially in interviews. Just recently, Jalen Green from the Suns got hit with a $25,000 fine for cursing during a teammate’s postgame interview.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla also got heated with the refs that night, and you could see the frustration all over the court. At the end of the day, though, $35,000 is a drop in the bucket for Brown, who’s already earned over $200 million in his career. One Knicks fan joked, “The fine is a teacher’s salary. This world isn’t real.”
Celtics fans mostly sided with Brown. “He’s not wrong!” was a common refrain. But some people pointed out that Boston’s love affair with the three-point line could be a reason for the lack of free-throw attempts. Both teams shot 44 threes in that game. Someone else wrote, “When you shoot 60 threes a game, you tend to get fewer free throws than the other team.”
Boston actually averages 42.8 threes per game—second only to the Warriors. So, maybe there’s something to that. Either way, Brown said his piece, took the fine, and moved on.
EXECUTIVE "EXPECTS" JOE BURROW TO REQUEST OFFSEASON BENGALS EXIT NOW
Bengals in crisis: Explore why Joe Burrow is tired of losing and if the Chase-Higgins era is officially over in Cincinnati.
An NFL executive thinks Joe Burrow is ready to move on from the Bengals this offseason. According to him, Burrow’s tired of losing, and he wants a real shot at winning.
This past season didn’t help things. The Bengals missed the playoffs again, mostly because Burrow, 29, sat out nearly the entire year with a turf toe he picked up in Week 2. He hasn’t played a postseason snap since the 2022 AFC Championship loss to Kansas City.
Burrow’s still under contract until 2029, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation. “I could see him trying to get out,” the exec told SportsBoom. “Honestly, I kind of expect it. That’s a tough place to win, and he really wants to win.”
The Bengals’ track record is rough. They’ve never won a Super Bowl, and they’ve only made it to the big game once in the last 37 years.
Burrow was the first pick in 2020 and dragged the team to Super Bowl LVI in his second season, but they lost to the Rams. Since then, the Bengals have missed the playoffs three years straight. Even so, head coach Zac Taylor keeps his job, with owner Mike Brown backing him to stick around through 2026. But nobody’s sure if Burrow will still be his quarterback, and it’s not just Burrow. Guys like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have shaky futures, too.
“This is it,” an anonymous GM said about the Bengals’ situation. “They’re not trading for a star like Maxx Crosby. The defence is terrible. This is probably the last year Chase and Higgins are both around. It’s all coming to a head.”
Back in December, Burrow was asked if he could see himself not returning to Cincinnati next year. He said, “I can’t see that, no.” When pressed about whether he’s thought about playing elsewhere long-term, he admitted, “You think about a lot of things.”
He even suggested there’s friction inside the organisation. “It feels like everybody’s trying to stop me from playing football, and I’m fighting it, fighting everybody else,” Burrow said. “I just want to play ball; that’s all I want to do.”
SACRIFICE REQUIRED: MIKE BROWN’S NON-NEGOTIABLE RULES FOR REBUILDING THE KNICKS' WINNING CHEMISTRY
Are the Knicks contenders? Read Mike Brown’s championship claim, the KAT shooting crisis, and how to beat the dominant Pistons.
The New York Knicks kicked off this season with a lot of hype. After last year’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, everyone figured they’d be pushing for a real shot at the title this time.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown isn’t shying away from that talk. He’s convinced this team can win it all. Sure, they've looked sharp in his first year at the helm, but it hasn’t been smooth the whole way. They started strong with 23 wins and 9 losses and even grabbed the NBA Cup. Then, out of nowhere, they crashed into a 2-9 skid that almost derailed everything.
After that rough patch, they rattled off eight straight wins, but since then, it’s been a lot of back-and-forth. One night they look like contenders, the next they’re just average. Even with the ups and downs, they’re sitting in third place in the East, just a game and a half behind the Celtics.
Brown still believes in his squad, despite all the turbulence. “I truly believe it,” he said Thursday. “We’re a championship team. But you have to be playing your best basketball;contenders; everyone has to be on the same page. Sacrifice is non-negotiable. If even one guy isn’t buying in, that wrecks your chemistry, and chemistry is everything. You need to want to compete every night. And you have to believe.”
He knows the pressure is there, but he keeps bringing it back to belief and accountability. “Even when things go south 2-7, 2-9, you can’t just believe in the process; you have to believe in each other. And everyone, starting with me, has to be held accountable.”
The Knicks have had their moments, but they still don’t look settled. Karl-Anthony Towns is having the worst shooting year of his career. Mikal Bridges can’t seem to find his rhythm, on offence or defence. It doesn’t help that tough, physical teams have given them nightmares. The Pistons, who are running away with the East, have manhandled the Knicks in all three matchups, outscoring them by a whopping 84 points combined. That’s not just a bad night; that’s a glaring talent gap the Knicks need to close.
If they want to be a real championship threat, everything has to come together. Right now, it’s obvious they’re still adjusting to a new system, and time is running out. The playoffs are coming fast. If they don’t figure it out soon, belief alone won’t be enough.
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