Jaylen Brown and AJ Brown are cousins, the weirdest Philly full circle moment in years

Jaylen Brown found out this week that he and AJ Brown are cousins, which is just… very strange.

Not “they follow each other on Instagram” cousins. Actual, blood-related, family-reunion cousins. Jaylen Brown said it himself at an event in Boston: “His grandfather is brothers with my grandfather.” His own grandpa just told him. Twenty-nine years on this earth and the man had no idea.

Neither did we. And now we’re all living inside the strangest coincidence Philadelphia sports has produced in years.

The Jaylen Brown trade made this a full circle moment

Walk with me for a moment.

The Eagles traded AJ Brown to the Patriots. Philly wide receiver, gone to New England.

A few weeks later, the Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the 76ers. Boston wing, gone to Philadelphia.

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Two guys named Brown. Both 29 years old. Both grew up in the South. Both won championships in 2024, Jaylen Brown took home Finals MVP against the Mavs, AJ caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl LIX beatdown of the Chiefs.

Then, the kicker. They find out they’re related. After the trades. Not before, when it would’ve been a fun little nugget. After. Like the universe waited until the paperwork cleared to reveal the twist.

You cannot write this. Well, technically I am writing this, but you get it.

What this means for the Sixers

Beyond the cosmic weirdness, let’s not lose the actual basketball here. Jaylen Brown is a Sixer. Five-time All-Star. Finals MVP. Three years, $183 million. He slots in next to Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe on a roster that just watched the Celtics blow a 3-1 series lead to us in the playoffs.

Boston’s response to that collapse was shipping their Finals MVP directly to the team that did it to them. Incredible stuff from a franchise that spent decades lecturing everyone about culture.

Meanwhile, AJ heads to Foxborough to catch passes from Drake Maye, and the Eagles even travel up there for joint practices in August. So at some point this summer, one Brown cousin will be practicing against the Eagles while the other Brown cousin suits up for the Sixers a few miles from the Linc.

Somewhere, a grandfather is watching all of this unfold knowing he was sitting on the best sports trivia answer of the decade.

The Brown family now runs the Philly-Boston rivalry

Here’s the part I keep coming back to. The Celtics and Sixers have met in the playoffs more than any two teams in NBA history. The Eagles and Patriots have their own scar tissue. These two cities genuinely do not like each other.

And now the whole rivalry runs through one family tree.

If the Sixers meet the Celtics in the playoffs, Jaylen is the guy Boston has to go through. If the Patriots make another Super Bowl run, AJ is the guy catching the passes. Two cousins, two cities, two sports, one shared grandfather situation nobody knew about until July.

Philly has seen a lot. We have not seen this.

Welcome to the family, Jaylen. Both of them.