Jaylen Brown’s Battle

Respect, refs, and refusing to flop

Lost in the nonsense over Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game against the Wizards the other night, a ledaing MVP candidate got thrown out of a high-stakes game between two leading Finals contenders on national television. Jaylen Brown getting tossed felt like a big deal at the time, but apparently not as much as whether the guardians of the game thought Bam’s 83 crossed an ethical line.

Much love to all you guys, but come on now. We’re debating scoring ethics in a day and age when a third of the teams in the league aren’t trying to compete at all? From Wilt on down, all individual high-scoring games are filled with some manner of gimmickry. Even St. Kobe’s 81 wasn’t as pure as some have chosen to believe.

Of bigger concern around here is Brown’s ongoing battle with the refs. The issues go all the way back to the start of the season when JB interpreted a lack of calls going his way to a general assumption that he and what was left of the Celtics weren’t actually trying to compete. From the fall through the winter and on into the spring, Brown has been on a quest to be taken seriously. It’s about time he got his proper respect.