Jaylen Brown Claims NBA Refs Have 'Agenda' Against Him

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Holleran | Last updated May 4, 2026 12:09 PM ET

The Boston Celtics fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series on Saturday night.

The Celtics, who were playing without Jayson Tatum in Game 7, were led by Jaylen Brown, as they were for most of the 2025-26 season. Brown had an up-and-down series, as he was called for a lot of offensive fouls.

Following the first round playoff series loss, Brown spoke out, alleging that NBA referees have an "agenda" against him.

“That’s the thing about this basketball era, where y’all have turned our brains off and just look at analytics. Y’all have no idea what y’all talking about. Flopping and exaggerating contact is different. It’s like when somebody barely touched you, and you’re selling a call to make it seem like you just got shot,” Brown ranted on his Twitch stream. “This is just my personal opinion on basketball; some of you might disagree, but argue with your grandma. Flopping has ruined our game. Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history, flops. He knows it. This ain’t breaking news.”

Jaylen Brown speaks out. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Brown claims that he was told about the agenda by referees.

“Every player does it. So why are you targeting me?” Brown continued on his Twitch stream. “They clearly had an agenda. Maybe because I spoke and was critical of refs in the regular season, so they responded, ‘You’re gonna lead the playoffs in offensive fouls.’ That’s how that was, the response from the officiating crew. You could clearly tell.

“And I’ve actually spoke to some refs, and they said it was an agenda going into each game. ‘So anytime Jaylen brings his arm up, just from reputation, just call it.’ But Paul George does the same thing. Jalen Brunson does the same thing…it’s a basketball play.”

Jaylen Brown GOES OFF on the NBA Refs and says they had an agenda against him throughout the Sixers vs Celtics series:

“They clearly had an agenda, maybe because I spoke so critical on them in the regular season”

“I actually spoke to some refs and they told me there’s an agenda… pic.twitter.com/LcdgEt4IQn
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