Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown Calls Out NBA For Rewarding ‘Foul Baiting’

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by Sam LanierMarch 14, 2026, 11:13 pm >

Following a recent ejection for arguing a non-foul, Boston Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown believes the NBA is awarding players who “foul-bait.”

Brown spoke on the foul-baiting issue following a 104-102 loss on Thursday to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Brown scored 34 points while attempting his third-highest free total of the season with 14 attempts.

“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.

This was the first time Brown had spoken to the media since his ejection on Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.

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“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.”

Foul-baiting is a huge topic of conversation surrounding the reigning MVP Gilgeous-Alexander, who is almost known for getting to the free-throw line and embellishing contact, causing opposing crowds to chant “free-throw merchant” at the All-NBA guard.

Gilgeous-Alexander is only behind Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo in free-throw attempts per game at 9.2. Brown is 15th in the league at 7.1 attempts per game.

Brown was asked to give his definition of foul-baiting, leading to this response: “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.”