Jaylen Brown Issues Public Challenge To ESPN's Stephen A. Smith

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown is continuing his feud with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

The second-team All-NBA forward has been calling out Smith, as the ESPN star has been critical of the Celtics star. Brown has called for Smith to retire, while Smith has called for Brown to stop running his mouth.

"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 is now taking things a step further.

The Boston Celtics star is challenging Smith to a debate.

Brown challenges Smith to a live debate

"Listen, I'm not even really focused on Stephen A.," Brown said, according to Celtics Wire. "I'm really focused on the industry that he represents. Obviously I have my quarrels with Stephen A, but I also have my quarrels with the industry in itself. Stephen A. is the face of the industry and his willingness to serve his higher ups is a major cause for concern, and it's caused frustration, but it ain't even really about him."

"Why don't we have a live audience debate, traditional media versus us athletes? And let's do a live debate in front of a live streamed audience at a mutual location like a Harvard or MIT and let's talk about it. Let's see who come out on top. Should be easy. Should be a piece of cake."

Brown has some ideas, too.

"Mainstream traditional media versus the athlete. Let's set it up. Harvard, MIT, live and let's see who comes out on top. You know where to find me. We know where to contact my team. Let's set up a live debate at a mutual location and let's talk about it. Traditional vs. untraditional. Mainstream media vs. the dumb jock. Let's see who comes out on top," Brown concluded.

People would watch, that's for sure.

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 2:57 PM.