Why 76ers’ Jaylen Brown can’t stop smiling about the upcoming season

All-Star Jaylen Brown is excited for a fresh start with the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s not one that he asked for after 10 seasons with the Boston Celtics. However, it’s a unique opportunity to compete for a second NBA championship alongside the association’s all-time leading scorer. Brown is teaming up with LeBron James after the 41-year-old future Hall of Fame forward inked a two-year deal with the 76ers. All of a sudden, expectations for the 2026-27 Sixers have risen.

Jaylen isn’t taking this chance for granted. While the shock of his trade from the Celtics still lingers for the five-time All-Star, he’s excited for what’s to come. For Brown, joining forces with James can only be a good thing, he explained, on his Twitch.

“We got Bron. What an opportunity that is. Obviously, everybody’s going to say whatever they’re going to say, and there’s going to be a bunch of media this whole entire season. What an opportunity it is to learn. One of my favorite things to do is to learn despite what people may say, despite what people may feel about. My favorite thing to do is to learn. I love learning,” Brown said.

“To have the opportunity to learn from one of, if not the greatest player of all time, on and off the court, learn and gather experiences that accumulate to my own knowledge base. But there’s also other guys you get an opportunity to learn from — Embiid, Maxey, Edgecombe, and even vets like KCP, etcetera.”

“I love learning. To have the opportunity to learn from one of, if not the greatest player of all time…”

Jaylen Brown speaks on having the opportunity to learn from LeBron James

(via @FCHWPO /Twitch) pic.twitter.com/XgdRQ0oslF

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 4, 2026

The 2024 Finals MVP brings championship experience along with James, who’s hunting for his fifth NBA championship. Joining a 76ers team he believes will give him the best chances to do so, LeBron is teaming up with All-Star Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and a budding star in VJ Edgecombe, in addition to Brown.

He’s also reunited with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, with whom he won his last title in 2020, with the Los Angeles Lakers. James, Brown, and the 76ers are positioned to rival the defending champion New York Knicks this upcoming season. It’ll be a work in progress for a group that learns to play alongside one another. However, Philadelphia couldn’t have asked for a better offseason.

For many, the 76ers’ trade for Brown sealed James’ fate. At the same time, others have reservations about how the Sixers will share the ball. Still, it’s a terrific problem to have for 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, looking to build off last season’s second-round exit.

James, Brown, and Maxey, three All-Stars who are used to having the ball in their hands often, will look to maximize their talents for the betterment of the team, which is something Jaylen’s undoubtedly looking forward to, while silencing his harshest critics. For the first time in franchise history, the Celtics coughed up a 3-1 lead to the Sixers in the opening round of the playoffs.

Whether that outcome spelled the end of the Celtics’ All-Star tandem in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum or not, Boston was ready to move on, which is something Brown is still processing ahead of his 76ers debut. Especially after reports suggested a lukewarm trade market for Brown, who was ultimately sent to Philly in a blockbuster trade for Paul George and draft capital, as a net negative for teams looking to improve their rosters amidst the NBA’s second-apron era.

The 76ers have essentially replaced George with Brown and James without giving up Edgecombe or any other player. Jaylen plans on making the Celtics pay for what many viewed as a colossal mistake following the deal between two divisional rivals. The possibility of James heading to the 76ers had to have crossed Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens’ mind.

But he pulled the trigger on the move anyway, confident the move was best for the Celtics’ foreseeable future, as they’ll look to bounce back next season with free-agent signings in 2025 champion center Mitchell Robinson and veteran Mike Conley Jr. in addition to George. With a healthy Tatum expected to play his first full season since 2024, Stevens and the Celtics must like their chances in a crowded Atlantic Division, led by the champion Knicks.

Brown, James, and the 76ers are positioned to prove Stevens wrong.

Jaylen Brown addresses the ‘disrespect’ felt from people he trusted

All-Star Jaylen Brown turned in one of his best seasons in 2025-26. Earning All-NBA Second Team honors for the second time in his career, he posted career-bests in key statistical categories such as points (28.7), rebounds (6.9), and assists (5.1) per game. With All-Star Jayson Tatum recovering from a ruptured Achilles, and the odds stacked against him, Brown led the Celtics to 56 wins in the regular season.

It was the second-best record (56-26) in the Eastern Conference standings, trailing the Pistons by only 4.0 games, while eclipsing the 2025 champion Knicks by three (53-29). Still, the Celtics’ disappointing first-round exit led to the end of Brown’s time in Boston. But was this trade inevitable?

After a report stated the Celtics attempted to move off of Brown at the trade deadline, it’s hard to say. Either way, the unexpected trade left a foul taste in Jaylen’s mouth, as 76ers fans can expect a motivated Brown in 2026-27.

“I’m more inspired to win than anything. I feel like I’ve been a little bit disrespected in this process for whatever reason from people that I thought valued me and everything that I brought to the team and the city,” Brown said. “I found out quickly that may or may not be the case. I want to win more than anything. So, I’m looking forward to that journey, to that approach, that leadership, the sacrifice, and whatever it’s going to take.”

Jaylen Brown:

“I’ve been a little bit disrespected in this process from people that I thought valued me… I want to win more than anything.”

(h/t @big_business_) pic.twitter.com/uroq31HZBS

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 4, 2026

This wasn’t the first time Brown revealed feeling disrespected by the Celtics’ process that led to his trade to the Sixers. In his first response since the deal, Jaylen called out Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens by name.

“I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of respect that was shown throughout this process,” Brown said. “I think there was a bit of lack of respect. I think it was fine at one point, then out of nowhere, things just went left. I think Brad [Stevens] is getting a lot of the criticism. I wasn’t thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations.”

Amid Stevens’ explanation of the trade, which pointed to the CBA’s second apron, optionality, and roster flexibility, the Celtics president of operations addressed Brown’s remarks.

“If he feels that way, then I’m sorry about that,” Stevens said. “I am, genuinely, because he’s a meaningful person in all of our lives and certainly mine. We had a lot of open discussions about here or elsewhere. And I would say he, and at least his agent, were well aware of teams that had only the most cursory interest. So at least that was as well-communicated or at least communicated. And so we tried to do that to the best of our abilities.

“As things get further down the line, it’s complicated to ultimately get it over the finish line with any deal. But I’m sorry that he feels that way.”

It sounded like nothing was set in stone amidst Stevens and Brown’s initial talks about a potential deal before things escalated quickly, and Jaylen’s trade to the 76ers was officially announced.

“I told him that if we were to ever trade Jaylen, that would be a really sad day for me personally,” Stevens added. “The emotions that all of us have felt and the consternation that we’ve all felt have been tied a lot less to the moments of highlights in a game. But a lot more of meaningfulness to fans, meaningfulness to the people in our building and just meaningfulness of relationships.”

Brown leaves the Celtics as the tenth all-time leading scorer (13,474), seventh in steals (684), and third in 3-point field goals made (1,284).

Did Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown’s relationship lead to a 76ers trade?

Did the relationship between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum go south, leading to the Celtics’ blockbuster trade with the 76ers? If you ask former Celtics teammate Grant Williams, he’ll say he observed mutual respect between Brown and Tatum.

Williams played with the Celtics’ Tatum and Brown throughout the first four seasons of his career, including the tandem’s first Finals appearance in 2022 before Grant agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Mavericks in 2023.

Williams addressed Tatum and Brown’s relationship in an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio.

“They had the respect for one another, they enjoyed being around one another, and on the court as well as they didn’t have any disdain for one another off the floor,” Williams said. “That’s something I can vividly say: I don’t think those guys dislike each other at all.”

“I don't think those guys disliked each other at all.”

Grant Williams doesn't believe that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had a dislike for one another

(via @SiriusXMNBA) pic.twitter.com/FAkPcEKPX7

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 5, 2026

Brown and Tatum led the Celtics to their first championship in 16 years. The All-Star tandem, amid speculation that the two couldn’t coexist on a title team, proved they could, with Brown winning Finals MVP after the Celtics defeated the Mavericks 4-1 in the 2024 Finals. Whether the two were close or not, they had proven they could win, which is why Brown’s trade had always felt like a team decision rather than something forced as a necessity for Boston to succeed.

James, watching from afar, saw Brown shine amidst the bright lights and the pressure of winning a title for the NBA’s most storied franchise. He also saw what Jaylen could do without Tatum in 2025-26, and LeBron considered Jaylen an MVP candidate, he said, per ESPN’s Kalan Hooks.

“This whole MVP thing. I don’t understand why his name is not getting talked about some as well,” James said after a 111-89 Lakers loss to the Celtics in February. “Like, nobody gave them a shot to start the season. And he’s averaging what, 30? Just under 30? It’s a popularity contest sometimes, I tell you.”

Brown and James were once teammates on the USA Stripes team during the 2026 All-Star Games. For Jaylen, it was a chance for the two to reconnect amidst his 10th season.

“When I first got into the league, my first start was against the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Brown said. “And after the game, he came up to me, and he told me in my ear, ‘You’re going to be an All-Star one day, you’re going to be a great player.’ So, we talked about that at the All-Star Game. ‘You remember that 10 years ago?’ And he smiles like, ‘Of course, I’m not surprised at anything you’re doing right now. So, just keep proving people wrong. Keep doing what you got to do and keep leading your team, and people will notice.’”

Jaylen finished sixth in MVP voting, trailing Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham, Lakers’ Luka Doncic, Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama, Nuggets’ three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, and, of course, Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Brown said he spoke to LeBron about other things during All-Star weekend, but chose to keep those talks to himself during his postgame media availability.

“I think he just used the motivation of a lot of people just saying that they’re going to have a down year,” James added. “The whole championship team pretty much is kind of revamped, and he used it as motivation to keep them afloat. They’re playing great basketball, and it’s because of him and the rest of those guys. He’s taken that next step.”

Now, Brown has a new source of motivation alongside LeBron and a promising 76ers team out to prove themselves as NBA championship contenders in 2026-27.

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