INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers forward Jaylen Brown denied he ever asked Boston to trade him over the summer, the latest simmering Celtics drama that has followed him into this season.
“I have no interest in letting any false allegations follow me into my next chapter here in Philadelphia,” Brown said Wednesday night after the Sixers beat Indiana. “I never demanded a trade. Never made a list of ultimatums.”
Former Celtics star and current broadcaster Brian Scalabrine said this week that Brown had “demanded to be traded” by Boston over the summer. Scalabrine later walked back the report.
“As of now, I'm just going to stay focused on what's in front of me in Philadelphia. I've got a tremendous opportunity and I'm looking forward to that,” Brown said.
Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer last season, was traded to the Sixers as part of a deal that included Paul George.
Brown has already had his squabbles with former Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum drag into the season.
Brown posted a social media response this month that took issue with Tatum saying in a video on his YouTube channel that he was “just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world” by Brown’s trade to the Philadelphia.
Brown responded on his Instagram account with a baseball cap emoji. “Cap” is slang for something that is not true.
“I don’t have any animosity or beef, or ill will towards him,” Tatum said.
Brown wasn't quite ready to call a truce with Tatum.
“There’s no beef,” Brown said last week. “There might be a little lamb chops and some gravy. He should stay ready at all times.”
Brown said he had no plans to talk to Tatum ahead of Boston’s first visit to Philadelphia this season on Nov. 10.
Brown had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the Sixers beat the Pacers 114-109 on Wednesday.
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Philadelphia 76ers' Jaylen Brown celebrates after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — A Liberian-flagged vessel that was hit by drones off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast has sunk, the local maritime administration said Thursday.
Three maritime drones struck the container ship Contship Jet about 21 nautical miles off the coast of Bulgaria on Wednesday, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said. It was the fifth drone attack in the NATO country’s exclusive economic zone this month.
The Greek-managed container ship was en route from Israel’s port of Haifa to Constanța in Romania. All 18 crew members, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were rescued by Bulgarian naval and border police vessels and taken to the port city of Varna for medical checks.
Some of the containers on board were carrying lithium-ion batteries, flammable liquids, gases and other hazardous materials, the site maritime.bg reported. Navy teams reported no signs of pollution after taking samples from several locations in Bulgarian territorial waters.
The incident took place as defense ministers from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey met in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, to discuss security in the Black Sea region.
In a statement after the talks, the three NATO countries strongly condemned the drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea and called for an “immediate cessation of attacks that threaten commercial ships, maritime infrastructure and the safety of maritime activities.” They also agreed on stronger intelligence sharing, early warning capabilities and coordination in the Black Sea.
A string of such incidents off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria this month has led some alliance members to wonder if Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to test their support for Ukraine in its war against Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Russia has not taken responsibility for the recent attacks, but suspicion has fallen on Moscow. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told his country’s Parliament earlier this month that “the logic points in that direction … The problem is that we cannot prove it.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Oct. 15 on X that the alliance had “strengthened our posture along the eastern flank including with increasing counter-drone capabilities” in the face of increasingly frequent strikes on commercial vessels.
Border police officer talks to saved crew members of the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet, which was attacked by drones, in Varna, Bulgaria, late Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petko Momchilov)
A crew member of the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet, which was attacked by drones, is evacuated and transported to the port of Varna, Bulgaria, aboard the Bulgarian Navy rescue ship "Proteo", late Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petko Momchilov)
A crew member of the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet, which was attacked by drones, is evacuated and transported to the port of Varna, Bulgaria, aboard the Bulgarian Navy rescue ship "Proteo", late Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petko Momchilov)
A crew member of the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet, which was attacked by drones, is evacuated and transported to the port of Varna, Bulgaria, aboard the Bulgarian Navy rescue ship "Proteo", late Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petko Momchilov)
A crew member of the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet, which was attacked by drones, is evacuated and transported to the port of Varna, Bulgaria, aboard the Bulgarian Navy rescue ship "Proteo", late Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petko Momchilov)
