Jaylen Brown strongly objected to the technical foul he received in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ loss on Thursday night.

The Boston star was condemned by referee Justin Van Duyne for invoking another technical foul that had recently been called against Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. Brown called the first technician “unintentional” and said Van Duyne threatened him with the same punishment if he continued arguing.

Brown did, and Van Duyne triggered the technical that gave the visiting Bulls a second free throw. Back-to-back Techs, immediately followed by a three-pointer from Zach LaVine, led to a quick five-point blow that ultimately buried the Celtics, who lost 117-108.

In a postgame press conference, Brown criticized Van Duyne for his handling of the controversial sequence, calling it “bull–.”

“Here’s the thing,” he said. “I was fined a few weeks ago for unintentional gestures that are proven not to be part of the game, which was fine. I took the fine (for making a throat-slitting gesture after making a move on Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart). But at what part of the game does a referee commit an accidental technical foul? And then I said to him, “You called a technician for no reason.” He said, “If you tell me again, I’ll call another technician.”

“You call a technician for no reason and then you say this – man, get out of here. You can’t threaten guys with a technical foul. That’s not part of the game either. If you want to fine people for gestures and all these things, then give it a fine. That’s some (BS).

“We were down three on the jump ball at that point, and that led to us being down eight. That affects the game. This could have been avoided. Joe hasn’t said anything to deserve a technician, and then when I come to you as captain and say, “You’re giving a technician for no reason,” then I come before the game and shake hands with all the referees because I speak for my team . I can talk.

“So if I tell you that you just called a technician for no reason, and you say, ‘If you say it again, I’ll call another technician,’ and I say it again and you call a technician, you have She just (used). ) Her whistle as a threat. That’s not part of the game either. And I think it’s (BS).”

Chief referee Tony Brothers told a pool reporter that Mazzulla was assessed a technical foul for “walking out of the coach’s box and onto the floor” while commenting on a controversial jump-ball call. Mazzulla, who also had to be restrained by assistants while he argued with officials after the game, admitted he earned his technical because he was “on the pitch”.

“The referee had to do his job,” Mazzulla said.

Brothers said Brown received his technique because he “questioned our integrity multiple times during the same sequence.” A subsequent technical foul on Jayson Tatum later in the quarter was “a technical foul out of respect for the game for a frank action on an official,” Brothers said.

Brown endured what he called a “tough week” and missed the Celtics’ practice on Tuesday after his mother’s Wellesley home was broken into on Sunday night. Intruders also broke into the home of Boston assistant coach Amile Jefferson.

“Obviously my mother’s safety is of utmost importance to me and that was compromised,” Brown said. “So it was a tough week. We had, as you know, members of the media and reporters outside our house trying to get inside information. Have some respect. It’s been a tough week. I won’t lie. … Thank God nothing serious, physical or threatening happened, but the fact that it could have kind of sticks with you.”

Originally published: December 19, 2024 at 11:33 pm EST