The Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, and one fan decided the best place to process his rage was the team’s Instagram DMs. A voice memo that leaked online captures a Celtics supporter going off in an NSFW rant, questioning just about every front-office decision made in the last 24 hours.
The trade: Boston sent Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, to Philly for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. George turns 37 next season. He has missed at least 20 games in five of the last six years. And he never asked out of Philly. The deal came together fast and left a lot of Celtics fans feeling like the team just handed a rival a superstar for what looks like a discount bin return.
The voice memo, shared by the account BrickCenter, has the fan yelling through a string of expletives. He calls the trade “disgusting” and says the front office “lost their minds.” It’s one fan, sure. But scroll through Celtics Twitter or any fan forum and you’ll see that sentiment echoed a thousand times over.
The frustration isn’t just about losing Brown. It’s about why he got traded. Brown never requested a move. He’s 27, coming off a title run where he was arguably Boston’s best player. And the return package centers on a 36-year-old wing who can’t seem to stay healthy. That math doesn’t sit well with a fanbase that watched Brad Stevens build a juggernaut out of smart, patient moves. This one felt like the opposite.
Some reports suggest Stevens might flip one or two of those picks for a win-now player. Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III has been mentioned as a potential target. But even if that happens, it’s not going to erase the sting of trading a homegrown star in his prime for a veteran on the back end of his career.
Boston is still one of the deeper teams in the Eastern Conference. Jayson Tatum isn’t going anywhere. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are still on the roster. But the trade undeniably makes the Celtics weaker, at least on paper, for the upcoming season. The Sixers just got younger and more explosive. The Celtics got older and added more injury risk.
George can still play when he’s on the floor. He averaged 22.6 points last season and shot 41 percent from three. But the guy hasn’t played 70 games since 2019. Banking on him to hold up through a long playoff run is a gamble. And for a team that just won a title, it’s a weird gamble to take.
Right now, Celtics fans are stuck in that awful post-trade zone where nothing the front office says is going to make them feel better. The voice memo was raw and uncut. But it was also honest. And in a weird way, that’s probably exactly how a lot of Boston feels right now.
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