Oh Wow In A Shocking Turn Of Events There Are More And More Sources Reporting That The Celtics Are In No Way Considering Trading Jaylen Brown. Weird!

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We live in a world where it's better to go viral than be right. Where clicks and pageviews by using anonymous opinions mean more than reporting facts. That's how narratives get created. It's life in 2021 and that's not going to change anytime soon. When it comes to the NBA, the vultures come out when a team struggles. Just look across the league and you'll see it. There are the endless articles and "reports" from "sources" about the Celts and how their best player is some sort of selfish asshole who doesn't root for his teammates or cares about winning or that they are going to break up their core before either hit their prime. There was just that huge story on the Mavs that was filled with anonymous sources airing out all their dirty laundry. The Lakers are dealing with Russell Westbrook rumors right now. It's how things go. If you don't like it, win. Pretty simple.

But personally, I do not care about the Mavs and Lakers. What I do care about is Jaylen Brown. It started with a weirdly worded blurb from Shams about a potential Jaylen/Simmons trade that everyone with a brain knew was clearly an attempt from the Sixers to boost Simmons' value (didn't work)

“The Boston Celtics have engaged in conversations with the 76ers revolving around Simmons and expressed interest in the 6-foot-11 guard, sources tell The Athletic. Talks have been fluid with no traction as of yet, those sources say. Any potential Simmons deal with the Celtics would have to include All-Star forward Jaylen Brown, an ascending talent who is in the midst of another career season, averaging 25.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

And he would later go on different shows and say the Celts were in no way interested, but that is not how he initially reported it. 

See the difference? That could have made it in his initial blurb, but it wasn't included. That was on purpose, it gained buzz, it went viral on Twitter, and that was that. 

Then more recently, we had the viral Jake Fischer quote

This, was an opinion. That this individual thinks one day you maybe might hear them talk about the potential of trading Jaylen Brown in 12-18 months. OK? You can literally use this exact line for any player/situation in the NBA. Naturally, this also went viral and was reported as fact, when it was an opinion. If it was a fact, wouldn't it have been reported as such? 

Now, I'm all about consistency. If your stance is that these takes/trades are legit because they come from "Sources", well then we also have to take what we learned today as fact no? Let me explain

Example 1

We have Matt Moore with the Action Network. A long time NBA writer who has way more sources and connections than you or I do. Here's what he had to say that was actually reported, not an opinion

BOSTON CELTICS: There’s been a lot of talk in recent days about the Celtics and whether it is “working,” leading to the idea that Jaylen Brown could be moved. Instead, two sources indicated that in recent talks the Celtics are focused on trying to add a third star to play with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

“If you’re trading Brown, you’re still probably trading low on him, that’s the wild part,” one executive said. “That front office doesn’t have a history of trading assets early.”

Example 2

How about Keith Smith? You know, the guy who invented the fucking bubble and is another long time NBA writer with a whole lot more of sources and connections than you or I have

Wow! This is crazy! How could it be that two separate reporters who don't maybe have a certain agenda to push both talk about how Jaylen Brown is very much not for sale? How the team is nowhere close to blowing up their core but rather is looking at ways of adding to it? This is all very confusing to me because I was told all the negative and bad reports from "sources" had to be treated as fact. So, does that mean we also treat this as fact? If so, how can both be true? It's a source off! 

So, are the sources from those two examples lying because it's something positive and doesn't paint the Celts players in a negative light or talk about how they are going to tear down their roster? As I said, I'm willing to be consistent here. I think you should take those two examples with a grain of salt as well. The same way someone can find an anonymous source to fit their narrative, it can work both ways. Shit, for all we know that rival front office exec Smith talked to could have been Danny Ainge. 

The truth is, neither of those blurbs will go as viral as the first two. Aggregator accounts won't tweet that stuff out. Why? Because it doesn't play. Everyone loves potential drama way more than a reality that is way less exciting and chaotic. 

But if you're someone who was maybe a little nervous about the Jaylen Brown situation, if we're led to believe that you have to take anything "reported" as fact, then today's news should make you feel a little better. Now, the team just has to hold up their end of the bargain. They need to win. It starts tomorrow night with the best team in basketball, and a win there will go a long way to keep the vultures away.