It was almost an unspoken indication after the last season that Jaylen Brown would not be with the Boston Celtics. Things played out exactly that way, and he finally landed on the Philadelphia 76ers roster.

However, former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins has no hesitation while calling out Brian Scalabrine for suggesting Brown demanded a trade from the Celtics. He argued that the claim ignored important context surrounding the forward's departure.

“That was kind of whack and on some homer s**t,” Cousins said while discussing Scalabrine's comments on Gil's Arena.

"That was kind of whack and on some homer sh*t."

DeMarcus Cousins called out Brian Scalabrine for claiming that Jaylen Brown requested a trade from the Celtics 👀

(via @RunItBackFDTV) pic.twitter.com/aCl3TxPk4x

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 28, 2026

Scalabrine, a former Celtics player and current NBC Sports Boston analyst, initially claimed that Brown approached Boston's front office with a list of demands and threatened to leave if the organization did not meet them.

According to Cousins, the discussion needed to include why Brown might have been unhappy with the Celtics. He pointed to Brown's contributions during the team's championship run and questioned how the organization handled trade discussions involving its star forward.

Article Continues Below

Brown won the 2024 NBA Finals MVP award after helping Boston capture the championship alongside Jayson Tatum. Cousins noted that Brown had stepped up when Tatum was unavailable and had established himself as one of the team's most important players.

Brown previously expressed displeasure with how Boston handled the trade process, particularly the conversations involving team president Brad Stevens. A representative for Brown's team subsequently denied Scalabrine's claims, telling ESPN that reports that Brown demanded a trade or presented a list of demands were “10000% a lie.”

According to the representative, Brown's only request after Boston informed him of the trade was to have input on his destination.
The Celtics eventually traded Brown to the 76ers for Paul George and draft compensation in July.