The Boston Celtics, NBA Champions in 2024, were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers on Game 7 of the NBA play-offs, the latest chapter in one of the fiercest rivalries in NBA, as Boston and Philadelphia have met 23 times in play-offs, the most repeated series in NBA history, usually dominated by Boston (they won 15 of those meetings, but not this year).
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was not happy after the 109-100 loss, and on a Twitch livestream on May 3, reacting to the match, he criticised the referees, something that has cost him a $50,000 fine for public criticism of the officiating.
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On his livestream, he explained that he has been targeted by referees because of how critical he has been on them, saying they "clearly had an agenda". "Maybe because I spoke, I was critical of the refs in the regular season. So you know how they responded? 'We're gonna call every... you're gonna lead the playoffs in offensive fouls.' That was the response from the officiating crew."
According to Brown, it has been the fixation of referees what resulted on him being the player with most offensive fouls whistled against him in the seven play-off games he played (10, more than twice as the next), and the second overall in the regular season (40, after Karl-Anthony Towns' 65 offensive fouls from New York Knicks).