Late in the Celtics' loss to the Spurs, I got a text from a friend watching at home.
“JB is annoyed with the refs. Not a good thing.”
For only the second time this season, Jaylen Brown ended a game with zero free throw attempts, and the other one was the blowout loss to the Rockets when he played half as many minutes as he did against the Spurs.
This was not an acceptable result for him.
“I feel like, honestly, they just got away with a lot, and I'm tired of the inconsistency,” Brown said in a postgame rant in the locker room. “I'll accept the fine at this point. I thought it was some bullshit tonight. I think they're a good defensive team, but they ain't that damn good.”
He was only just getting started.
“I hope somebody can just pull up the clips because it's the same shit every time we play a good team,” he continued. “It's like they refuse to make a call. Then call touch falls on the other end. That's just extremely frustrating, bro, like we play hard. We were outplaying our expectations. We compete hard on the defensive end. Then they reward the other team with touch fouls. Then we go down there and guys are allowed to get away with …
“The inconsistency is crazy. I'll take the f----ing fine. Curtis (Blair), those dudes was terrible tonight. I don't care. They can fine me whatever they want. But it's crazy. Every time we play a good team, it's the same bullshit. Somebody please pull up the clips. I'm irate at how they officiated the game today.”
Brown wasn’t alone in his frustration. Derrick White was showing some rare emotions on the floor as well. On one play, he was fouled multiple times on the perimeter before one was finally called on his drive. After the whistle, he pretended to cock back the ball to throw it at the ref who made the call, before calmly handing it to the official standing next to him.
Everyone got a chuckle out of that. But White was still ticked by how things went down.
“We shoot the least amount of free throws in the league, so it's not a surprise, I would say. But I think there's just some calls that are bigger than others that sometimes get missed,” he said. “And obviously the one at the end of the half, I was really frustrated about which cost us two points.”
This is the no-call Derrick White was referencing in his postgame press conference: "There's just some calls that are bigger than others that sometimes get missed. And obviously the one at the end of the half, I was really frustrated about which cost us two points" pic.twitter.com/lVmfhm294J
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 (@John_Karalis) January 11, 2026
White made that comment with a fat lip, the result of an un-called foul that he was asked about, to which he replied, “you’re trying to get me in trouble.”
Brown didn’t want to hold back like that.
"I don't know what's going on,” he said. “I got my conspiracies or whatever but I don't know what's going on. But it seems like every time we play a good team, it's the same shit."
Brown does have a point. He took four shots in the restricted area and eight more in the paint, non-restricted area. Those are where most of the fouls are called, and yet he didn’t go to the line at all. The Celtics took 13 shots in the restricted area and only two shooting fouls were called the whole night.
At the same time, Boston was still up five with a little more than five minutes to go. The refs didn’t miss shots or turn the ball over. Maybe Brown would have still gone on his rant after the game regardless, but closing the Spurs out with a win and then ranting carries a little bit more weight.
Two games ago, Brown went on another rant about the refs and, coincidentally, he took 13 free throws the next game. After that game, the Friday night win over Toronto, Brown said, “I just got to keep my head on straight. Don't let it affect my physicality or the way I play. Don't let it cloud my vision: thinking about the refs, not thinking about making the right play. So I just got to stay poised.”
I wouldn’t exactly say he accomplished that goal.
“If we can't get to the free throw line and teams are allowed to be physical and bump us off our spots, etc., then it's hard to win games like that,” he said. “We shot four free throws tonight and lost the game by four. Not to say that's the whole game, the whole story. We gotta be better in spots. I gotta be better in spots. But goddam. I'm driving to the basket. I'm physical. I don't flop. I don't shy away from contact. I go up strong. I'm athletic. And nothing. Zero free throws tonight. The inconsistency is f---ing crazy. Give me the fine."