With Jayson Tatum sidelined due to a torn Achilles, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown is under pressure to step up as the team’s leader. But so far, the results on the court haven’t been promising—and off the court, Brown is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The Celtics are off to a rough 0-2 start, dropping games to the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks. Brown’s individual stats are solid—averaging 24 points, five rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game—but it’s a bizarre moment from Friday’s loss to the Knicks that has the NBA world buzzing.
Embed X: https://twitter.com/motts_apple/status/1981897825173860707
Late in the third quarter, Brown drove to the basket against Knicks defender OG Anunoby. Anunoby played textbook defense, sliding his feet to stay in front of the four-time All-Star. As Brown lowered his shoulder—and head—into Anunoby, contact was made, and what happened next was, frankly, wild. A mysterious black smudge appeared on Anunoby’s white jersey, clear as day.
It wasn’t sweat. It wasn’t anything on Brown’s hands. So, what was it? The internet has a theory, and it’s brutal: Jaylen Brown, it seems, might be using spray-on hair filler or hair dye to mask a receding hairline. The evidence? That smudge, which many believe came from Brown’s forehead, where such products are often applied to create the illusion of a fuller hairline.
The online roasting was immediate and merciless. “Jaylen Brown will the first person to tell you about how he don’t care about vanity, but got a Jerry Jones oil field full of enhancements in his head,” one fan quipped on X. Another chimed in, “We rewriting the Declaration of Independence with only a feather and the ink on Jaylen Brown’s head.”
Look, we’d love to defend Brown and call this slander, but the video evidence is hard to dispute. There’s no other logical explanation for that smudge. A receding hairline before 30 is no joke—plenty of guys can relate—but with a $60 million salary, you’d think Brown could afford a better solution than spray-on hair that wipes off mid-game.
C’mon, Jaylen. The Celtics need you to lead, not leave ink stains on defenders. The internet’s not letting this one go anytime soon.