Jaylen Brown did not wait long to speak his mind after the Boston Celtics were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series. The day after the loss, Brown hosted a Twitch stream where he replayed clips from the game and unloaded on both the officiating and Joel Embiid's “flopping,” as reported by CBS Sports.
Brown had already planted a flag at the postgame podium Saturday night, saying Embiid "was flopping around" and "got some extra calls" before adding, "they rewarded him for that, but that's the league we're in." On the Twitch stream, he pushed further. "Flopping has ruined our game," Brown said. "Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in fucking basketball history, flops. He knows it. This ain't breaking news." He also claimed referees carry an "agenda" against him personally while daring skeptics to "argue with your grandma."
The specific plays fueling Brown's frustration came in the fourth quarter, when he picked up two fouls on Embiid under circumstances he found dubious. On one play, Embiid was pulled to the ground; on the other, Brown himself ended up on the floor. Referees whistled Brown on both occasions. Embiid finished with 11 free throw attempts across 39 minutes in Game 7, a rate roughly in line with his regular-season average of 10 attempts per 36 minutes, though the timing of those calls in a decisive fourth quarter amplified their impact.
In 2023, the NBA introduced a technical foul for flopping, but in practice the rule is rarely enforced. Whether Brown's fouls were legitimate or manufactured may never be reviewed, but the Celtics' first-round exit now gives him plenty of time to make his case on Twitch.
