NBA Star Jaylen Brown Is Urging Stephen A. Smith To Retire

NBA star Jaylen Brown is calling for Stephen A. Smith to retire.

The Boston Celtics star is fed up with the face of ESPN. Brown and Smith have exchanged some non-pleasantries following Boston's first round loss to Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Smith was fed up with what he saw from Brown.

"He needs to be quiet. Unless you're trying to get traded," Smith said of the Boston Celtics star.

But Brown hasn't backed down.

The NBA champion forward is calling for Smith to retire, claiming that he's the face of "clickbait" media.

Brown believes that Smith is a detriment to the sports media world in general. The former Cal star believes that Smith needs to retire.

The Boston Celtics forward sounded off during a recent stream.

Brown sounds off on Smith, calls for him to retire

Brown did not hold back.

"Tell this (expletive) to retire, because he's the face of clickbait media," Brown said. "And maybe with his retirement, we could spark a movement to get the rest of these (expletives) out of here. Or to also have some type of, forget journalistic integrity, actual integrity in order to hold themselves accountable to the (expletive) takes they put out with no basis, no bias, no information. Just narrative. Just for the sake of just pushing a weak narrative. Just purely out of that."

Brown also fired back at Smith's accusations surrounding Jayson Tatum not appearing on his Twitch stream.

"What type of journalism is this?" Brown asked. "Jayson Tatum hasn't been on my stream, and this is what we're talking about on First Take? What if [Tatum] just don't like being somewhere in an uncontrolled environment? Why are you doing journalism on me having guests on my stream? And this is a part of the reason why I started streaming. This is a part of the reason why people use the term ‘clown,' and it synchronizes with someone like Stephen A. Smith. Because this is what you're using your platform for. What are you talking about?"

"This is a narrative that he's creating. This isn't journalism." Brown said. "This is him making his own opinion and formulizing it about what I have to say, on his platform. And this is why, respectfully, a lot of people say, ‘(Expletive) Stephen A.' Because this is the type of stuff he does, and then he doesn't recognize it."

Smith, surely, will respond on "First Take."

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 8:38 AM.