After Jaylen Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this week, NBA legend Paul Pierce said the move left him “disappointed, but not surprised” and urged Brown to use that sense of disrespect as motivation.
Jaylen Brown didn’t have to wait long to feel the sting of Boston’s decision—he landed in Philadelphia earlier this week and, the next day, pointed directly at what he believes was missing from the Celtics’ side.
Paul Pierce, who knows what it’s like to be moved within the same division, stepped in with encouragement that landed less like comfort and more like fuel.
Pierce, speaking on the “No Fouls Given” show, said he understands the situation Brown is in. He described Brown’s feelings as a belief that he was not getting the respect he deserves from the organization, then pushed the point that the NBA often runs on that exact emotion.
“Although I think he feels like he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves maybe from the organization. but Jaylen has to understand this is what your career has been built on: not being respected. ” Pierce said. “You didn’t make the Olympic team. You’re not in the top five All-NBA, you know what I’m saying?. This is what keeps you hungry, Jaylen.”.
Pierce went further, explaining how he reached what he called a “realization” after his own time as a Boston Celtic.
“You have to come to the fact that — and I came to this realization as a Boston Celtic also — ‘Listen. I know I’m not respected like I feel like I should. ’ but sometimes that’s what keeps you hungry. and sometimes those are the things that motivate you to keep you and drive you to become the player that you are today. which is a future Hall of Famer. ” he said.
For Brown, the sense of being overlooked is not new. Brown said he felt disrespected when he was left off the 2024 USA men’s basketball Olympic team. He also pointed to a decision at that time: teammate Derrick White was chosen as a replacement for Kawhi Leonard over Brown.
Coming off Boston’s 2024 NBA Finals victory, Brown said he planned to use that snub as fuel to become an even better player.
Pierce also tied his encouragement to Brown’s place in major honors. Brown has never earned All-NBA first-team honors. He said it didn’t surprise him when he was named to the All-NBA second-team this year.
After the trade, Brown said his reaction didn’t change—if anything, he felt the same underlying message from Boston again.
Following being traded to the Sixers earlier this week. Brown said Boston showed a “lack of respect” after the organization decided to part ways. On a Twitch livestream the day after the trade news broke. he said. “I think Brad [Stevens] is getting a lot of the criticism. I wasn’t thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations.”.
Pierce didn’t dress up the Celtics’ move, either. He said he was “disappointed, but not surprised” by Boston’s decision to trade Brown.
“I’m a little disappointed, but I’m not surprised because the writing was on the wall,” Pierce said. “This has been speculation for some months now. It wasn’t like the Luka [Doncic] trade where it was like, shocking.”
He contrasted Brown’s trade with what he described as a different kind of shock.
“(The Brown trade) was like, ‘All right, it’s going to happen.’ Like we almost knew it. It was like, when though?. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes. … It’s like if you have a family member who’s dying and it’s like. when they die. you saw it coming. It sucks, but you know. When it happens out of the blue, it’s different.”.
Pierce said he wasn’t a fan of the decision to deal Brown, but he remains optimistic about what comes next in Boston.
“I think, at the end of the day, it was a combination of some things that maybe turned off the franchise that was said, a combination of money-driven obligations in the future,” Pierce said. “This is what we’ve come to. It is what it is.”
Still, he argued the Celtics’ core can carry them.
“But in the meantime, when you look at the Celtics’ roster, it’s still a roster that you look at and say, ‘Hey, they could still come out the East with this roster. It’s unfortunate because like I said, he poured his soul into the city. He was a Finals MVP, a champion. … Things happen for a reason.”
The trade has left Brown staring at a new chapter—and, in Pierce’s telling, that discomfort is exactly where his next burst of urgency could begin.
Paul Pierce Jaylen Brown Boston Celtics Philadelphia 76ers Brad Stevens Derrick White Kawhi Leonard 2024 Olympic team All-NBA second-team NBA Finals MVP trade