Donovan Mitchell calls out 1 narrative about Jaylen Brown

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Donovan Mitchell calls out 1 narrative about Jaylen Brown

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Jul 2, 2026 2:13 PM ET

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell thinks some people are going too far in discussing Jaylen Brown after the Boston Celtics shockingly traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Mitchell reacted to FOX Sports host Colin Cowherd, who cited a pair of sources who said Brown has a “disease” in which he views himself as “the smartest guy in every room he’s in.” The Cavaliers guard took offense to that statement and found Cowherd’s use of the word “disease” was too much.

“Critique basketball all you want… but disease is insane… we gotta stop letting people just say whatever… cmon man!” Mitchell wrote on X.

Critique basketball all you want… but disease is insane… we gotta stop letting people just say whatever… cmon man! https://t.co/kZvqMGBYib
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 2, 2026

Cowherd is a sports talk host, so it is his job to deliver takes like these and elicit a reaction. He has done it a lot during his career, fairly or not.

As for Cowherd’s assertion, it may be that there is a huge disparity between how Brown is viewed within the league and how he is viewed outside of it. Fans universally condemned the Celtics’ decision to trade him for Paul George, and if Brown’s attitude is a problem, it is clearly not seen as too much of one. This is, after all, a former Finals MVP who averaged 28.7 points per game last year.

Brown has tried to defend himself from some of the claims that could be regarded as unfair. His best retort, however, will be to star for the 76ers this season.

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