Cal Basketball: Jaylen Brown Questions First Career NBA Ejection

It’s been a quietly effective season for Jaylen Brown. That changed Friday night when the 27-year-old former Cal was ejected from a game for the first time in his eight-year NBA career with the Boston Celtics.

Afterward, Brown could not explain to reporters why he was tossed.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Brown said. "But I wish I would've got my money's worth. I always thought my first career ejection would be something a little more exciting. Maybe a tussle or something, guys get folded up, go to the ground, not some overemotional ref who had a bad day. What I'm most upset about is I should've got my f---ing money's worth.”

Brown, averaging 22.0 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics, potentially could face further sanctions for his remark calling the official “overemotional.”

The Celtics were on their way to a 133-123 win over the New York Knicks when the incident took place in the fourth quarter.

Brown was whistled for a foul while defending Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, then got a technical foul for responding to the ref, "don't call that weak-ass s—," according to Boston coach Joe Mazzulla.

"I've been on the sidelines in the NBA for five years, and I've seen players act and say things that are way more disrespectful than that," Mazzulla said.

Moments later, Brown picked up his second technical, leading to the ejection.

Officials crew chief Mark Lindsay told a pool reporter that the first technical was for "use of profanity toward a game official,” the second was for "a wave-off directed at the official, which under the respect of the game guidelines is considered an overt gesture and an unsportsmanlike act.”

Brown was surprised by both calls.

“I think it’s a difference between showing emotion and being disrespectful or derogatory towards another person,” he explained. “I don’t think I was directing it towards him whatsoever, especially on the second (tech). It wasn’t even close. I’m on the bench, you know what I mean? I’m talking from the sideline, he can’t even hear anything I’m saying.

"You could tell, his emotions were involved, XYZ, wanted to make it a back-and-forth," Brown continued. "I'm explaining to the ref, and he calls the second tech from the other side of the court, which is a clear example of somebody exercising their power to try to get somebody thrown out the game. I thought it was bulls—.”

Brown, a two-time NBA All-Star who signed a record $304 million, five-year contract extension in the offseason, is scoring above 20 points per game for the sixth straight season.

The 6-foot-7 wing had 17 points on Friday night before being tossed.

Cover photo of Jaylen Brown by Eric Canha, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo