Celts' Brown calls out NBA's 'foul baiting' trend

OKLAHOMA CITY — A couple of nights after being ejected for vehemently arguing a no-call, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown bemoaned what he perceived as an NBA trend of players being rewarded for “foul baiting.”

Brown brought up the issue after Thursday’s 104-102 loss to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder, when Brown scored 34 points and attempted 14 free throws, tied for his third-highest total of the season.

It was the first time that Brown spoke to reporters since he was ejected in the second quarter of the Celtics’ road loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday. He received two technical fouls after arguing that a foul should have been called when Stephon Castle bumped him out of bounds while Brown was dribbling.

“I don’t know, maybe it all works in the end, but I just don’t foul bait,” Brown said. “I’m not looking to flop or anything like that, but it’s almost like you got to. It’s almost like, because there’s a couple of plays in the fourth quarter where I felt like I drove strong, went up strong, and I didn’t get the benefit of the doubt. But maybe if I would have flopped, maybe I would have been able to sell that call. And those decide games.

“So it’s like, we commend players for playing the game the right way, but we give the benefit to those who necessarily are trying to manipulate the game into their advantage. I just don’t think it’s basketball. Let’s just play basketball. All the foul baiting, I think it’s whatever for me.”

Brown did not mention Gilgeous-Alexander while discussing foul baiting, but it’s a frequent topic of discussion about the reigning MVP’s game. Opposing crowds have chanted “free throw merchant” during Gilgeous-Alexander’s trips to the line on multiple occasions over the past few years.

Gilgeous-Alexander ranks third in the league in free throw attempts with 9.2 per game, trailing only Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brown ranks 15th at 7.1.

But Brown attempted six more free throws in Thursday’s game than Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 35 points while extending his 20-point streak to 127 games, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 points without attempting a free throw in the fourth quarter, when Brown had half of his 14 attempts.

Asked for his definition of foul baiting, Brown said: “Just accentuating contact. It’s one thing to get fouled, but it’s like when you’re not even trying to score when you’re driving and flailing your body into [a defender] just to make it look like you’re getting fouled. I think that’s the part where it’s like, all right, come on. But I mean, that’s where our league is at. That’s where the NBA is at. So it’s like, get down or lay down. So maybe I need to flop a little bit more.”

Brown said that he was “pissed” that he didn’t get to play the entire game against the Spurs, saying it was a game he had circled on his calendar because of the caliber of opponent.

“I felt like I was ready to have a big-time performance, and my night got cut short,” Brown said. “In certain spots, maybe I could have been a little bit better, but you’re passionate. It’s a big game. You want to see emotion. You want to see your star players showing that emotion. I don’t think I deserve to get tossed. And I think the NBA agreed, because I didn’t get fined or anything like that. So it is what it is. It happens. People make mistakes, but I’m just looking forward now.”