Jaylen Brown is embracing a fresh start in Philadelphia after a blockbuster offseason trade sent him from the Boston Celtics to the 76ers, but he admitted the move has been anything but easy.
“When I first got traded, I just threw my phone across the room,” Brown said speaking during his introductory press conference.
The All-Star forward revealed that while the trade itself wasn’t a complete shock after years of hearing his name in rumors, the experience still hit hard.
“I just choose to focus on what I focus on,” Brown said, after the Celtics’ offered him in trade discussions for Giannis Antetokounmpo before shipping him to the division rival that beat them in the first round of the playoffs last season. “Obviously, it got to a threshold this offseason that was a little bit higher than it’s been in the past, where I think people attacked my character. Someone even went as far as to say I had a disease.
“So, it’s been a crazy transition, to be honest, but none of it is completely surprising. Even though some of these things were said externally, internally and through organization and stuff like that, there’s been conversations. … Then obviously getting traded to the Sixers, like somebody that, for the last 10 years, has been a rival, that was a process, too.”
Despite the difficult exit, Brown made it clear his attention is now fully on helping the 76ers compete for a championship.
“Obviously, it’s a lot of guys with talent and egos. But to win, you got to be able to sacrifice, you got to be able to have trust and communicate,” Brown said. “I want to come in transparent. I want to come in with my agenda on the table. Look, this is what I’m here to do. This is what I want to do. I want to win. And we kind of can figure out how to respectfully move around each other.
“Being the first to the gym, being in a film room, I’m looking forward to learning from LeBron — just everything that he’s endured during his career on and off the floor…”
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