Jayson Tatum talks about relationship with Jaylen Brown originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s relationship on and off the court has been under scrutiny since they became teammates on the Boston Celtics in 2017.
Brown has taken the brunt of the criticism over the past seven years. The 27-year-old was frequently the subject of trade rumors as pundits weighed negotiations to split the Celtics’ superstar duo, who came close to a championship a few times before finally bringing home the Banner 18 last month.
On a recent meeting with Sports Illustrated’s Chris MannixTatum admitted he regrets not speaking out in support of Brown back then.
“I always told him that maybe I could have done a better job expressing my feelings in the public eye,” Tatum told Mannix. “He always knew I wanted him here. I always told him, ‘Man, I don’t get involved in any of these conversations.’ I never went to Brad (Stevens) or any player like, ‘Hey, I want this guy in, I want this guy out of here.’ I show up and I want to do my job and play basketball.
“And looking back at those moments, I didn’t know how it could affect someone because I’ve never been in that situation. I feel like maybe I could have done a better job of publicly saying, ‘No, we don’t want anyone, we want JB.’ I always thought, ‘I want to stay out of this.’”
Tatum and Brown’s relationship continued to be unfairly scrutinized despite postseason success. After Brown was named Eastern Conference MVP, “Stand up!” spent an entire segment questioning whether Tatum was happy for his teammate. When Brown was not named to the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Tatum seemed uncomfortable answering questions about his omission.
Mannix joined Thursday Early Edition to share more information about his meeting with Tatum and what he took away from the conversation.
“(Tatum) always told (Brown) in private, ‘I’ve got your back,'” Mannix said. “People around him always told me, ‘Look, Jayson doesn’t have a problem with Jaylen Brown. He wants to play with Jaylen Brown. He believes they can win with Jaylen Brown.’ But I think sometimes these stories have gained traction because we haven’t heard much from Jayson Tatum. He never criticized Jaylen Brown. He maybe wasn’t as vocal as he could have been.
“These aren’t two guys who will often be photographed at Dave & Buster’s hanging out together. They’re different people. They’ve always been different people. But that doesn’t mean they can’t coexist as teammates and they can’t thrive in that relationship because we’ve seen them thrive in that relationship. And I think this year for Jaylen Brown, where he got his money, he’s going to make over $300 million when his new contract goes into effect, that’s a big bag.
“And I think Tatum, one thing we talked about was that he was happy that Jaylen Brown was the conference finals MVP, because he felt over the years that Jaylen Brown kind of got the upper hand. the achievements that Jayson Tatum had. Now, he’s getting that recognition. The first guy I think was happy for him was Jayson Tatum.
As Mannix mentions, Brown has nothing left to prove with a supermax contract, three All-Star nods, a Conference Finals MVP award and an NBA Finals MVP under his belt. Still, there’s no doubt his All-NBA, All-Defense and Team USA losses will put a chip on his shoulder heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
That extra motivation could work in favor of the Celtics, who are looking to become the first NBA team to repeat as champions since the Golden State Warriors (2017-18). They go run it back with almost the same exact group who defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 Finals.
