Jaylen Brown, with Jayson Tatum out injured for the season, is facing similar pressure right now as what Scottie Pippen did when Michael Jordan retired to play baseball. Not saying that Tatum and Jordan have similar accomplishments, but this year is going to prove a major factor in determining Brown’s legacy with the Celtics in the absence of another star player like Tatum.
Thus, tempers are bound to flare up throughout the season as Brown looks to hit the ground running on the Celtics’ rebuild and quest for the Playoffs. Brown dropped 21 points against the Grizzlies in the Celtics’ star’s first preseason game of the season, where Boston came out on top in the 121-103 win.
But the most noteworthy moment from the game was when he engaged in a heated altercation with Vince Williams Jr of the Grizzlies that resulted in shoving and double technical fouls for both players. It was during the second quarter when the Celtics star was driving through the lane while Williams was guarding him. Williams seemed to have caught hold of Brown’s jersey to prevent him from getting a shot up while Williams fouled him.
Brown did not take lightly to this move and immediately turned around to shove Vince Williams. The players had to be separated by their teammates and officials as both players were eventually given technical fouls, and the game continued.
Jaylen Brown and Vince Williams
THE NBA IS SO BACK 🍿 pic.twitter.com/nFRcHJzcfu
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) October 9, 2025
NBA fans saw this incident and took to social media to express their opinions on it. While most of them felt the reaction was exaggerated for a preseason game, some of them pointed out how this could be a common occurrence now that Brown needs to play a whole season without Tatum.
“Why didn’t JB square up like he always does off the court?”
“Jaylen Brown wins one finals MVP and thinks he’s hot shit. Comical.”
“Without Tatum, they’re going to mess with Brown,” said a fan, pointing at Brown’s vulnerability without Jayson Tatum.
“Calm down or Bill Nye is about to step the f**k in.”
“This is basically what Draymond does anytime he has to play without Steph, btw.”
“Rest of the Celtics soft for this. Y’all were supposed to knock Spencer tf out for getting involved.”
The Celtics have three more games left in the preseason before they face the 76ers in their first regular-season game on October 22. They have to face the Raptors twice and the Cavaliers once in the next three preseason games. While Brown will likely play all games to get back in the momentum he needs for the regular season, we are likely going to see him for limited minutes only.
