Jaylen Brown was phenomenal for the Boston Celtics in the month of December, and he isn’t too happy about his efforts not being rewarded. The NBA announced on Friday that New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had won Eastern and Western Conference Player of the Month, respectively, and Brown took to X to voice his displeasure.
“Smh”
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) January 2, 2026
With Brown hosting his Twitch livestream later in the day, you wondered if he was going to have more to say on the subject. He did indeed.
“Honestly, I’m not going to say too much, but I’m gonna be honest,” Brown said. “No disrespect, no diss to none of those guys, Shai or Brunson. Neither one of them had a better month than I had. But it’s all good. Those are great players.”
Later on in the stream, Brown claimed that politics was a reason behind his not winning the award. This might be the first time we’ve seen someone get this upset about not being named Player of the Month. The NBA had revealed that the 29-year-old was a finalist, but you’d imagine that isn’t good enough for him.
Brown averaged 31.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Celtics in December while shooting 53.8% from the field and 42.6% from beyond the arc. The four-time All-Star tied Larry Bird’s franchise record by scoring at least 30 points in nine straight games as well.
The Celtics went 7-3 in the 10 games Brown played in December and 9-3 overall. His efforts were rewarded with two Player of the Week awards, but he wanted the bigger one.
Brunson instead gets named Player of the Month. He averaged 30.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game for the Knicks in December while shooting 47.5% from the field and 40.5% from beyond the arc.
The Knicks went 10-4 in the games Brunson played in December and lost the only one he sat out. That record doesn’t include the NBA Cup final, where they beat the San Antonio Spurs 124-113. Brunson had 25 points (11-27 FG), four rebounds, eight assists, and one block against the Spurs, and those aren’t included in his monthly average either.
It’s unclear if Brunson’s leading the Knicks to cup glory was taken into consideration for the award. If it were, then the two-time All-Star would be the easy choice. If it weren’t, then Brown had a pretty good case, especially with Brunson only winning Player of the Week once for the month. He is perhaps a bit more upset than one would imagine, as he has never won Player of the Month in his career.
Brown’s losing out on the award doesn’t take away from the fact that he is having a terrific season. The Celtics had been written off coming into the campaign, as Jayson Tatum was out long-term due to an Achilles tear, while the likes of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis had been traded away.
There were doubts about whether Brown could even lead the Celtics to a top-six finish in the East, and he has silenced the doubters in style. They are currently third in the East with a 21-12 record.
Another Celtic who has greatly enhanced his reputation with how well the team has played is head coach Joe Mazzulla. Unlike Brown, Mazzulla is taking home an award for December after being named Coach of the Month. The fact that Knicks head coach Mike Brown didn’t win would suggest the cup wasn’t considered.
Perhaps Brown will be fueled by the snub and play even better in January. We’ll see him in action next when the Celtics take on the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Saturday at 10:30 PM ET.
