Jason Kidd Blames Media After Controversial Celtics Comments

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA championship in June after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games, breaking the record for most titles in league history. But that didn't come without some controversy.

Prior to Game 2, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd made some comments about the Celtics that didn't sit well with many.

"Well, Jaylen's their best player," Kidd said.

This is a pretty uncommon take from Kidd, as many dub Tatum as Boston's top player over Brown.

Fans accused Kidd of playing chess instead of checkers with the Celtics, trying to pit the roster, more specifically Tatum and Brown, against each other by saying this in hopes of beating them.

Kidd even got point guard Jrue Holiday to bite as he agreed with the coach's statement, causing a lot of commotion around the NBA world.

Two months later, Kidd finally addressed these controversial comments. In an interview with NBC Sports , Kidd discussed his remarks and blamed the media for stirring the pot.

"[Jaylen] was playing the best at the time," Kidd said. "Some took it as I was trying to start something, but he had just won the Eastern Conference MVP, and then he actually ended up winning the MVP in the Finals. I don't know if I was wrong, but as we know, media can sometimes take it as I was trying to start something between Jayson and Jaylen. But it wasn't that."

Overall, these comments didn't end up affecting the Celtics at all, winning pretty easily, excluding Game 4, on their way to another title. And as Kidd said, Brown was, in fact, the Celtics' best player throughout the playoffs, winning both finals MVP awards.

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