Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown could be getting very familiar with the Sixers’ Ben Simmons and the Cavaliers’ LeBron James in the coming weeks as Boston, Philly and Cleveland will all be in the mix for the NBA Eastern Conference crown. Brown may have been taking a passive aggressive shot at both Simmons and LeBron this week when he vaguely tweeted, “This is a popularity contest.”
This is a popularity contest ?
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) April 10, 2018
The tweet led to a prompt Twitter discussion by his followers on who is the rightful front-runner for the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Simmons is expected to run away with the award, but Brown has two dogs in the fight as he is very tight with Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell as well as Celtics rookie and teammate Jayson Tatum. Here is Brown working out with Mitchell.
Both Brown and Simmons are not shy about voicing their displeasure with NBA happenings as both players believe they were snubbed for NBA All-Star game nods this past January when Andre Drummond was selected as a replacement for John Wall.
As for how Brown’s tweet pertains to LeBron, Brown used the phrase “popularity contest.” Brown’s Celtics teammate Kyrie Irving wore a hat this past fall that most assumed was the former Cavs star calling out LeBron. It read: “Popularity contests are not truth contests.”
Despite his flashy dunks and the fact that he’s doubled his scoring average in just his second season, Brown – like Tatum and Mitchell – remains underrated on the national stage compared to his young counterparts in Philly.
