Jaylen Brown's mentor Tracy McGrady reveals Celtics star is 'frustrated' with Boston organization

Could offseason drama be brewing in Boston?

The Celtics' 2025-26 season ended far earlier than anticipated, being stunned by the 76ers in the first round of the playoffs by losing a 3-1 series lead, including a Game 7 in which Jayson Tatum did not play. 

In the days afterward, Jaylen Brown has been extremely vocal about his disdain for the officials in that series — but based on recent comments from one of his top mentors, Brown may also have an ongoing grudge with his team, although Brad Stevens denied that possibility on Wednesday.

Here's what Tracy McGrady said about Brown being "frustrated" with the Celtics.

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Tracy McGrady says Jaylen Brown is 'frustrated' with Celtics

McGrady recently said on his podcast with Vince Carter that he thinks Brown's "frustration lies deeply within the organization."

"There’s just been a lot of stuff that I’ve been hearing, just going on with the Boston organization with JB," McGrady said. 

McGrady is a known friend and mentor of Brown's —  in 2019, McGrady reportedly helped guide Brown to stay in Boston after a frustrating season.

"It's fascinating," McGrady said about his 2019 conversations with Brown, per NBC. "He's very intelligent and a guy you suspect (would) have all the answers because he's a student of the game and he wants all the information. For him to reach out to me to just come sit down and have a conversation, because it was heavy on his heart and his mind, and what he wanted to do.

"For me, it was just (being) the voice of reason because I'm not emotionally connected to Boston. I'm not emotionally connected to anything with Boston. My connection is with him and trying to give him the best advice possible.

"I saw it was an opportunity — you've got another player with you in Jayson Tatum, and the dynamic that you guys have created could be very dangerous, and given the organization and their winning ways, and them putting the necessary pieces around you guys -- you've always been close when you've been together."

Additionally, in that 2019 offseason, Brown said in a recent appearance on McGrady's podcast that he traveled to Houston to talk about his career, his future and work out, which resulted in McGrady advising him not to seek a trade from the Celtics, per NBC.

Will the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown?

For now, there aren't any real indications that Brown will try to force his way out of Boston this offseason. The team is a few years removed from a title, still with the same star core in place to win another. 

In fact, Brad Stevens said Wednesday that he spoke with Brown and he was "nothing but positive," and Brown has not expressed any frustrations with him about the organization.

Brad Stevens says Jaylen Brown hasn’t expressed any frustrations to him. pic.twitter.com/PEtndPhuH9

However, after a career year for the Celtics in 2025-26, Brown has shown some other indications that he wasn't happy with the team, particularly with changing its style of play after the return of Tatum from injury. Brown, who was an MVP candidate and averaging over 28 points per game without Tatum, said after the Game 7 loss — when Tatum was sidelined — that he was still proud of the brand of basketball the Celtics played.

“I wish we played that style and trusted that style more, even throughout the playoffs, even through wins and through losses,” Brown said, per The Athletic. “Obviously, it’s not always the easiest decision, but I wish. That style for our team was how we empowered the rest of our group, and you saw tonight how everybody came out and played their tail off. I wish we trusted that more.”

Notably, Brown also said that the 2025-26 season, when he individually excelled but the Celtics fell in the first round, was "probably one of my most fun years playing basketball."

“It wasn’t always perfect. It wasn’t always analytically (or) aesthetically pleasing, but we won a lot of basketball games, and people could see the grit and the fight that we played with every single night," Brown said, per The Athletic. "We left it all out there. We played five small guys, we played a rookie, we played whatever. And we scrapped all the way to the end. Just came up a couple, a few plays short.”