Jaylen expects to hear from NBA after throat-slash dunk celebration originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jaylen Brown busted out a new celebration after his latest poster dunk Wednesday night. But it may come with consequences.
The Celtics star threw down a vicious dunk on Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart during the first quarter of Boston’s 130-120 win over Detroit at TD Garden, then followed it up by making a “throat slash” gesture.
Brown has used the “seatbelt” celebration after a few big dunks this season, so what prompted him to switch things up after posterizing Stewart?
“Just caught up in the moment, I guess. Big play,” Brown told reporters after the game, before noting that the league may not view his throat slash too kindly. “I think that the NBA and the NBPA (Players Association) are sensitive about the gestures and things like that, so you’ve got to be mindful of that.”
When asked if he expects to “hear from the league” after the gesture, Brown responded with a smile.
“Oh yeah.”
It wouldn’t be surprising if Brown was hit with a fine. Former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, for example, was fined $25,000 in 2016 for making a similar gesture during a game against the Celtics.
It appeared Brown may have faced some in-game consequences from Stewart, who seemed to give the Celtics star a bit of a shove later in the game. Brown doesn’t think Stewart’s actions were related to his earlier dunk on the Pistons big man, however.
“I feel like he’s always doing stuff like that,” Brown said of Stewart. “I think that’s how he plays the game. But my focus is on coming out, running the offense, getting our team into the right positions, so I didn’t want to get distracted.
“But there was definitely some going back-and-forth, and we’re not tolerating that this year from anybody.”
Brown didn’t let any “back-and-forth” with Stewart derail his game. With superstar Jayson Tatum sidelined, Brown took charge with a game-high 28 points on 10 of 21 shooting while adding a season-high nine assists, six rebounds and three steals.
The Celtics are back in action Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom Brown called “childish” after the teams’ first meeting earlier this season. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.