Tracy McGrady isn’t buying the pushback Jaylen Brown keeps getting, and he made that clear while defending the Celtics star’s 2025-26 season.
Brown had to carry a heavier load in Boston with Jayson Tatum sidelined for most of the year, and he answered with the kind of production that put him squarely in the conversation as one of the league’s top wings. In 2025-26, he averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game as the Celtics’ No. 1 option during Tatum’s absence.
Even with that kind of line, Brown still drew plenty of criticism. McGrady said the backlash made no sense, especially given the circumstances Brown was working under.
"Shading him from things that he actually earned. Like, if you look at if anybody would have put up those types of numbers last year under the circumstances with Boston, with JT being out and no expectations for them to do anything in the Eastern Conference," McGrady said on an episode of the Cousins podcast with Vince Carter and guest Jamal Crawford.
"They would have won second, runner-up, or MVP, averaging 28 points and being second in the East, like to place him what fourth or fifth? Is so disrespectful and just nasty work. What we doing out here, man."
Brown’s 2025-26 season ended with an All-NBA Second Team selection, but McGrady clearly thought the response around it was out of line. The former star said Brown was being undervalued despite the numbers and the role he handled for Boston.
Brown is now with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he’ll share the floor with stars like LeBron James and Joel Embiid. That kind of setup means sacrifices are coming, and an MVP run may be off the table for any one player on the roster. Still, for a player who just posted a breakout-level season, Brown’s place on a title contender may be the tradeoff.
For all the noise around him, Brown’s résumé keeps growing. He already has multiple All-Star nods and a Finals MVP from the 2024 title run, and McGrady’s point was simple: a season like the one Brown just had deserves more respect than it’s getting.
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There is some history behind the reaction, too, since Tatum tried the shot a handful of times last season and did not make one of them, even if it was only a tiny slice of his overall attempts. So the debate is less about whether he can pull off a flashy workout rep and more about whether it belongs in the real game plan, even though it is hard to imagine this particular shot defining what the Celtics do next season. [Read more 🡒]