Jaylen Brown is facing many storms at the same time. Already, he’s in an online feud with Stephen A. Smith for calling him out just because he wanted to highlight his best performance year. At the same time, he’s awaiting a final call from the Boston Celtics to understand where his future would be. As the tensions continue to brew, an ESPN veteran made some comments on Brown that he isn’t taking on his chin. Unexpectedly, he has Stephen A. siding with him.

“Now this is utterly ridiculous. I have no doubt that @BobbyMarks42 was told what he said he was told (He’s incredible at what he does) — but there is no way in hell @FCHWPO is the 7th-best player on any team in the NBA. He may be the best 2-way player in the league. Yes, it’s me saying this. Folks be on some b.s. Stop It!”

It began when ESPN insider Bobby Marks’ comments on SiriusXM NBA Radio went viral. He said that an analytics guy told him that they see Brown as the “seventh-best player on a team.”

These comments came after Brown had a career-best 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game in the season, where he swept All-NBA Second Team honors and finished sixth in MVP voting.

With Jayson Tatum out, he led a team with the least expectations to the second spot in the East. Marks’ comments certainly didn’t reflect Brown’s performance on the board. But everyone is already at him for reporting something that was told to him, including the Celtics star himself.

“Analytics nowadays used to discredit and control narratives – Roll the ball out, none of these guys better than me on both ends who does he work for.”

JB tweeted later, “Nobody has won more combined regular season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago.”

JB made another tweet, “Analytics have / are ruining the game we playing AI hoops.”

The Celtics star has famously never missed the postseason in his decade-long career, appearing in six Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals. So, not only did Marks’ take not justify what happened, but amid trade rumors, it is giving wind to another feud that stars Brown and Smith.

After the Celtics’ season ended, Brown described the 2025-26 campaign as his “favorite season.” However, what Smith did not realize was that he meant it in the performance aspect, and not team chemistry. Of course, Brown managed the stat line and time on the floor because Tatum is out. And that’s what Stephen A. picked up on.

On a First Take episode, Smith went against Brown for saying that this was his favorite season because Boston fell in the ECF to the Philadelphia 76ers after taking a strong 3-1 lead. Even though Brown had the best performances in all but two games of the seven-game series, it didn’t sit right with Smith. But when the ESPN analyst called him out, Brown didn’t stay back either.

Jalyen Brown responded, calling the “clickbait” structure of legacy sports television. Smith was ready with a warning: “Be careful what you wish for.” Interestingly, the two came together when Marks’ comments got to their skin. But what’s worth noting is that the ESPN veteran reporter, Marks, is not in the wrong to begin with.

Amid his tweets to cancel any narrative, he received a reply from Bobby Marks. The ESPN reporter clarified that he defended the Celtics on the podcast and shut down that take himself.

“But what wasn’t posted was the 2m of saying I’m not an analytics person but an eye test guy. That I would want Jaylen Brown on my team. That you impact winning (191-80 in the last 4 years), is a top-10 player and would help any team looking to win a championship. That part of course didn’t make it. But that’s the media in 2026.”

There may be some teams that don’t hold Jaylen Brown in the highest regard. But this off-hand comment from an anonymous source set JB off. He directly replied to Marks, saying, “State your source.” Since then, there have been no direct replies between the two. But Brown would be eager for a response, and we will be waiting to see whether Smith sides with the player or his colleague.