Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown is drawing the ire of some around the sports world for comments he made on a Twitch stream on Sunday night following Saturday's elimination at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

While Brown said a lot of illuminating things about the series, he also called out the officials, and Joel Embiid, which is what prompted much of the backlash.

But there was one other comment that at least raises the tentacles.

As noted by Barstool Sports, Brown called this the favorite year of his basketball career. He cited how proud he was of the group and what it accomplished. He said that doing regular Twitch streams allowed him an outlet after games, which he enjoyed, but he also said that he appreciated the team's fight through the uncertainty of the season.

There was plenty of that given Jayson Tatum's injury and offseason losses of Al Horford, Jrue Holliday and Kristaps Porzingis. 

If we take Brown at face value, that all sounds pretty benign and very complimentary of his teammates. If you dig a little deeper, like Barstool apparently wants to, was Brown saying he enjoyed this season the most because he was the No. 1 option in the wake of Tatum missing much of the season?

Brown was the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Tatum was the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Both players came into Boston with high expectations, but had to find their way in the Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker-led Celtics teams.

In the wake of those players leaving, Tatum and Brown took over the team, with several on the outside wanting to create a power struggle between the two.

Despite the desire to break them apart, Brown and Tatum have stayed together, and they won a title in 2023-24, which seemed to squash the narratives about how the two could navigate the situation together.

However, with a full year of being the "man" under his belt, some are wondering if Brown will want to go back to being Tatum's co-star, and if that could cause more issues for Boston.

Both players may very well end up ok with it in the end, but there is a new dynamic in play. Brown has shown that he can lead the team. Is Brown OK going back to being option 1B as Tatum returns to full health? Is Tatum OK giving up the top role to Brown? 

Or can they truly find a 50/50 balance and co-exist as they had before? Even though Tatum was the face of the franchise, Brown was allowed to flourish as well, and he won Finals MVP in 2023-24.

It's not an easy question and it's one that the Celtics will have to figure out through the offseason as they decide what direction to go in.

Brown is a deep thinker and always has been. He probably did like the opportunity to lead a team and bring it together from a team building perspective. That was a new challenge for him and he's always been receptive of new challenges.

Remember to join our CELTICS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Celtics fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!