Boston Celtics

"Analytics nowadays used to discredit and control narratives, roll the ball out, none of these guys better than me on both ends."

NBA insider Bobby Marks set social media on fire on Saturday afternoon with a strong case against the overuse of analytics in the NBA.

That’s thanks to his recent comments on Sirius XM’s “NBA Radio,” where he said that NBA teams are split in their view of Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown due to the analytics behind his game.

“There’s mixed feelings about [Brown],” Marks said. “The analytics on Jaylen Brown is not good … I had an analytics guy tell me, ‘we view Brown as the seventh-best player on an NBA team’.”

Of course, Brown is coming off his best career NBA season in which he finished top-10 in MVP voting and solidified himself as a bona fide No. 1 option in the league.

Brown took to X, formerly Twitter, to respond to that report.

“Analytics nowadays used to discredit and control narratives,” Brown posted. “Roll the ball out, none of these guys better than me on both ends.

“Nobody has won more combined regular season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” he continued. “Analytics are ruining the game. We playing AI hoops.”

He and Marks got into it a bit on the social media platform as well, with Marks looking to clarify that his own view of Brown is much fonder than the report he shared, and Brown demanding he name his source from the report.

The internet had plenty of reactions as well, with most everybody coming to the defense of Brown. Even Stephen A. Smith, who has been in a bit of a public feud with Brown this offseason, had strong words against that analytical assessment of Brown’s game.

“Now this is utterly ridiculous … there is no way in hell [Jaylen Brown] is the seventh best player on any team in the NBA,” Smith said. “He may be the best 2-way player in the league. Yes, it’s me saying this. Folks be on some B.S., stop it!”

The report came in the context of Brown as a potential trade target. He’s been one of the hottest names reportedly on the market this offseason, and many teams are expected to kick the tires on his potential availability. Although it’s clear based on Marks’s comments that at least one team isn’t too high on Brown.

Overwhelmingly, Brown is viewed as a commodity worth making a significant trade for. Whether he does get moved this offseason is yet to be seen, though, as Boston certainly doesn’t need to trade him to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference.