Tuesday night felt like a robbery in broad daylight on national television.
The Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs were locked in what many billed as a potential NBA Finals preview — two legitimate title contenders going toe-to-toe with every superstar available, including Jayson Tatum. Then, before the first half even ended, the marquee matchup was hijacked by the officials.
Jaylen Brown got shoved out of bounds on a play that should have been a clear foul. No call. Turnover. The five-time All-Star — a player squarely in the MVP conversation — lost his mind, and who could blame him? He started venting at crew chief Tyler Ford. Ford hit him with a technical for the aggressive pointing and profanity. Fair enough. But what happened next was inexcusable.
Before Brown could even collect himself, referee Suyash Mehta — an underling who had zero involvement in the original play — marched across the court and dropped a second technical. Ejection. Game over for Brown just 15 minutes in.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t mince words afterward. “Just give a ton of credit to my high school principal,” he quipped after the 125-116 loss. “He had the balls to throw a student out. He didn’t leave it to the hall monitor.”
Brown finished with eight points and seven assists in what was shaping up to be a dominant, nationally televised performance against Victor Wembanyama and company. Instead, the NBA and its viewers got robbed of a star showdown.
And that’s exactly what had Stephen A. Smith exploding on First Take the next morning in a five-minute tirade that left no doubt about the real problem.
“This is a very, very big time for Jaylen Brown,” Smith began, voice rising. “National television, nationally televised game, center stage, and it’s the first half, and you’re going to eject him because he said something, and then he turned away and pointed at the ref? Again, remember, he was pushed. It was a missed call by the official.”
Smith then delivered the hammer that exposed everything wrong with the situation:
“Suyash Mehta is an underling. He’s not the crew chief. Tyler Ford missed the call; that was who Jaylen Brown approached. And then the official, Mehta, he comes in and ejects him. Why? It was none of your business. You had nothing to do with the play. It was not your call. And you’re not the crew chief.”
Smith kept going, pointing out that legendary officials like Joey Crawford and Steve Javie would never have pulled a stunt like this in a game this big. Even crew chief Ford seemed willing to let Brown vent. Mehta, however, decided he needed to be the hero — and in doing so, undermined the entire night for the Celtics, for Brown, for the NBA, and for every fan watching.
The real problem wasn’t Jaylen Brown’s frustration. It was an official who inserted himself where he didn’t belong and robbed the league of one of its brightest stars on the biggest stage.
Boston got a bombshell all right — and Stephen A. Smith just made sure the entire NBA heard it loud and clear.