The fallout from the Boston Celtics’ blockbuster trade of Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers is still causing outrage across the basketball community. After Brad Stevens’ 45-minute Q&A justifying the trade, former NBA guard Austin Rivers took to social media to aggressively defend Brown. Not only did he validate Brown calling out the ‘anonymous sources’ who put him in a bad light, Rivers’ passionate tirade got the stamp of approval from NBA stars themselves.

Rivers, whose dad Doc Rivers was once the Celtics head coach, claimed that the unverified team executives allegedly talking to the media have orchestrated a “smear campaign” against the star forward to retroactively justify moving a franchise cornerstone over cap space.

“I’ve seen so much negativity come Jaylen Brown’s way,” Rivers stated during his broadcasted reel. “And I’m not saying he is the most politically correct. I’m not saying his intelligence is easy to manage on a day to day basis, but he’s done nothing wrong. And the fact is, my man just works hard… but the only thing that really matters is just the guy shows and plays. Because y’all got a bunch of twerps in the NBA that I watch do everything right. They don’t talk, they’re quiet, easy to manage, but they can’t ball for anything. I’ll take the guy who shows up and hoops.”

The drip-feed of anonymous character attacks, however, did not start with Stevens’ press conference. It began weeks earlier: first with Colin Cowherd citing an anonymous executive who claimed Brown had a “disease” of assuming he’s the smartest person in the room, followed by separate sourced reports questioning his locker room presence and his fit alongside Jayson Tatum. By the time the trade was announced, a narrative had already been carefully constructed and Rivers wasn’t buying any of it.

Brown himself called it on his Twitch stream.

In a somewhat contrasting move, in the caption under the same post, Rivers explicitly cleared Brad Stevens and the front office of blame. But he does feel that the organization did not try to make a championship core work before a ‘smear campaign’ around Brown attempted to validate the trade.

“This is no reflection on Brad Stevens or Celtics front office either…they’re one of the best around. But this trade doesn’t make sense….and the Celtics were still in position to contend with that star studded nucleus (white, Pritchard, Brown, Tatum) etc. If your team’s in contention, salary cap issues shouldn’t be on the menu.”

Brad Stevens steered away from Jaylen Brown’s off-court persona in his presser and claimed that he had to trade Brown’s supermax contract away to gain financial flexibility. Rivers did not buy into that narrative.

“The Magic gave up more to get Desmond Bane than what the Celtics just gave up Jaylen Brown for. And what I’m hearing is, ‘oh his stock dropped, people are scared of Jaylen.’ For what? He does the hard stuff. He hoops.”

The Orlando Magic gave two players and four first-round picks for Desmond Bane. The Celtics were initially demanding four first-round picks after failing to package Brown in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade discussions, but ultimately settled for two first-round picks and Paul George, who is not an optimum-usage player anymore.

His staunch demand to protect players from these media narratives earned support from the subject himself, along with many other NBA stars.

Players back Austin Rivers’ defense of Jaylen Brown

Rivers’ post went viral within hours of posting. Jaylen Brown clearly showed he approved the message by reposting it directly to his Stories.

The responses that followed went well beyond emoji solidarity. Bradley Beal, the LA Clippers guard now being linked to a possible team-up with Giannis in Miami, backed Rivers and demanded that critics “put a @ on it!!!!” – a pointed reference to the same anonymous-source culture Brown had called out on stream.

Brooklyn Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. echoed the sentiment, commenting, “facts man 💩 crazy.”

Beyond the active players, veteran voices added weight to Rivers’ argument.

Former Champion-turned-media-personality Richard Jefferson, who played alongside Brown during his time in Boston, commented “Preach” – a notable co-sign given his position at ESPN, where the anonymous executive reports had aired in the first place.

Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas commented, “All love ❤️,” and reshared it on his profiles. His namesake and former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas also added, “💯” under the post.

J.R. Smith, who spent 17 seasons in the league, weighed in with “HELLO 💯🔥” – a short comment, but one from someone who has himself been on the receiving end of organizational spin during a trade.

But the most brow-raising comment came from Kendrick Perkins. He took a moment to call out the structural failures behind the transaction and explained the financial motives of the Celtics’ brass.

“Brad Steven’s said it today! They chose Tatum over Brown because it’s obvious the owner didn’t want to spend them money!!! It’s that simple. Another note I agree if you’re going to say something then put your name on it. The real conversation is that Brad Stevens dropped the ball when he lost the Gainnis sweepstakes to the Heat which at the point he had to trade Brown!!!,” Perk wrote.

The only problem. This is what Jaylen Brown said in his Twitch stream over the weekend.

“Let’s just stop with the anonymous sources. Chat, the anonymous sources is crazy. Stephen A. Smith saying an anonymous source, Kendrick Perkins saying an anonymous source, or somebody texting, like what is with these people and these anonymous sources, bro? They don’t see how unethical that is and just stating that on live TV.”

Perkins was part of the Celtics’ ’08 championship squad coached by Doc Rivers. But over the years, his ESPN takes have alienated him from the Boston fanbase.

Even though Perk took Brown’s side in the trade saga, fans didn’t appreciate his comment under Rivers’ post and the irony wasn’t lost on anyone that Brown had explicitly named Perkins as one of the anonymous-source offenders just days prior.

Perkins didn’t make it any better by engaging with these fans and justifying his reports.

What Rivers’ post ultimately revealed is bigger than one trade. Fans and players have grown tired of the narratives that follow trades. As Brown officially relocates to Philadelphia following his high-scoring run, the overwhelming player support highlights a collective pushback against targeting an athlete’s personal character as NBA business cover.