Stephen A. Smith recently opened up about his comments on Jaylen Brown being “unmarketable” during his appearance on Gil’s Arena. The longtime sports analyst stressed that it wasn’t he who was calling out the Celtics star; it was simply what he had heard from others.
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Smith defended his comments regarding the 28-year-old, explaining how the tangent was his way of “tipping” the audience off that Brown was being made out to be unmarketable.
Considering everything Brown has accomplished on and off the court, Stephen A. thinks it’s ridiculous that he isn’t viewed in the same light as other stars.
Stephen A. once referred to Brown as one of the NBA’s most underrated talents, so he wasn’t trying to bring down the four-time All-Star with his observation. The 57-year-old just wants fans to know people were working against a successful Black man, a player who once scared off scouts with his intelligence during the pre-draft process.
“This brother was literally compromised in the NBA Draft because he was too smart,” Smith said of Brown. “They were saying, ‘He’s too smart. He’ll question everything. He’s gonna challenge us. He’s gonna expose our ignorance.'”
Instead of tearing down his team with his smarts, Brown helped lead the Celtics to five Eastern Conference Finals appearances and an NBA title before the age of 28. With this in mind, it becomes even more egregious that the talented wing hasn’t earned a single endorsement deal yet.
Brown’s body of work and off-court contributions are certainly worthy of a hefty endorsement deal, which is why Stephen A. is so baffled by the fact he doesn’t have one.
“Model citizen, cares about the community, goes back to Oakland, contributes to that community, literally goes to MIT… Never in trouble, and [Brown] still don’t have one endorsement deal,” Smith continued.
Stephen A.’s original comments were misconstrued, but he has since made amends with Jaylen Brown. The ninth-year veteran confronted Smith, and the two were able to clear up the misunderstanding. Smith was on Brown’s side from the beginning, after all.
Brown knew from the beginning, it wasn’t Stephen A. calling him out. The First Take host shared that when the pair first sat down to talk, Brown didn’t even mention Smith, instead calling out the other media members who had the audacity to come after him.
Stephen A. isn’t usually the nice guy in these scenarios, as he’s often the reason certain stories come to light in the first place. But in this case, Smith was simply trying to figure out why a successful athlete with no blemishes to his name isn’t garnering the attention he deserves.
