NBA Accused Of Double Standard After Fining Jaylen Brown

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown's season came to an end this past weekend, and yet, he's still making headlines during the playoffs.

After the Celtics lost Game 7 of their first-round series, Brown called out Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid for flopping. He went as far as to say the former MVP's antics have "ruined" the league's product.

"Joel Embiid is a great player. One of the best bigs in basketball history. [But he] flops. He know it," Brown said on his Twitch stream. "This ain't breaking news. It is what it is."

Brown wasn't done criticizing the NBA's product. He then took aim at the league's officiating.

"If you're going to call push-offs, call that," Brown continued. "Same move. Same refs. Oh, it's nothing? It's play on, right? But you gonna call me? Everybody does it ... but if it would have been me, it'd have been an offensive foul. Every good basketball player does this. What are y'all talking about? They clearly had an agenda."

Obviously, the NBA didn't appreciate those remarks from Boston's All-Star swingman.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the league has fined Brown $50,000 for his remarks.

Fans are siding with Jaylen Brown.

Not only do NBA fans disagree with this fine, they believe the league is being hypocritical for punishing Brown.

"Theres gotta be some change with this tired of this," one fan wrote.

"NBA's biggest sponsor is a gambling site that bets on the league and referees help dictate the outcome on the NBA Games when they call the games certain ways, and if you speak up about it the NBA takes ya money," a second fan commented. "That's funny."

"Dude that's HIS livestream at HIS house in HIS room sitting in HIS chair using computer or wte that HE paid for," a social media user wrote. "Brown should sue the NBA for impeading on his 1st amendment right."

"Probably the proudest fine he'll ever pay. They told us stop crying and all u see is Knicks fans complaining crazy after one game," a Celtics fan said. "It's not why we lost but it sure helped get us there.

It's worth noting that Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks also called out the league's officiating during the postseason. Clearly, Brown isn't the only player who thinks the NBA can improve in this department.

Will the NBA actually spend its resources on better officiating? Or is it more convenient to just fine players for demanding more accountability.

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This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM.