Jaylen Brown Sorry For Scottie Barnes "Extra Chromosome" Comment

NBA fans can be cruel in their attacks on players, like cracking jokes on hairlines or taunting them about old girlfriends, but the Scottie Barnes jokes have stepped over the line.

His personality has earned him some unfair criticism from people who think he has a learning disability, and Jaylen Brown just added fuel to the fire.

On December 7, the Boston Celtics lost to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena, 121–113, and Barnes went off for 18 points and 11 rebounds. It was the first time the teams played each other this season, and Barnes’ performance took Brown by surprise, so he gave an insensitive assessment on his next livestream.

“Scottie Barnes is strong as sh-t, this motherf-cker got like that… extra chromosome strength,” Brown said. “Like some type of Ninja Turtle or something. That boy strong as hell.”

The clip went viral, and now, a few weeks later, Brown realized the mistake he made in piling on to fans making fun of Barnes. So he went to his teammates, Derrick White’s White Noise Podcast w/ Derrick & Welsh, to clear the air.

He prefaces his statements by saying he “didn’t know that that was something that people had already been teasing him about.”

Brown outright apologizes to Barnes, but says it was meant as a compliment, not a slight.

“When I made the comment, I was really trying to give him a compliment, trying to basically just —maybe it was a poor choice of words— saying how strong he was. When I said extra chromosome, I think people looked at it as something negative… but I was thinking, like, you know, Superman, the Incredible Hulk. Like, I’m a Marvel guy.”

He continues, “I wasn’t thinking of like making fun of any community, let alone the autistic community. So, I will apologize for adding to the fire of something that I wasn’t aware of. I was referencing it in the sense that this dude is like a mutant. Like he’s just that strong.”

The NBA champ repeatedly apologized and said the next time he crosses paths with Barnes, he’ll say sorry to his face, but he truly “didn’t mean it the way the internet took it.”

He won’t have to wait long, since his Celtics are scheduled to take on the Raptors again on January 9.

See social media’s reaction to Brown’s apology below.