Jayson Tatum has heard the chatter. And he’s not having it.
Days after a report surfaced claiming his personal relationship with former Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown was essentially nonexistent by the end, Tatum went on the TODAY show to set the record straight. His message? The media tried to manufacture drama that just wasn’t there.
“There was a period in our career where we hadn’t won a championship yet, but in retrospect, we were only 23 and 21 years old, so the expectations were so high that they just had to figure out a reason why we hadn’t won yet,” Tatum said. “They tried to pit us against each other. … The truth is we had 9 amazing years together. We went to the finals twice; we won a championship. I’ll forever be grateful for those memories and the time that we spent together.”
It’s a pretty direct response to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reported earlier this week that while Tatum and Brown were professional and productive on the court, their personal bond had faded. Charania said the relationship was “as close to nonexistent as you could have” over the last year.
Whether Charania’s sources are right or Tatum’s public account is closer to the truth is anyone’s guess. Probably somewhere in the middle. But here’s the thing: Boston won a title with those two as the core. They made multiple Finals runs. That doesn’t happen if two All-Stars are actively at odds.
What happens now that Brown is gone
The narrative shift comes after Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Now every matchup between the Celtics and Sixers will get the “ex-teammates turned rivals” treatment. Tatum and Brown will be asked about each other constantly. Fans will pick sides.
But Tatum seems to understand that it’s mostly noise. People want a villain or a feud. They want tension where there might just be two competitive guys who did their jobs and moved on. Brown is in Philly now. Tatum is still in Boston. Both are going to keep playing at an elite level.
The real question isn’t whether they’re friends. It’s whether Boston can keep winning without Brown and whether Philly can maximize Brown’s talent now that he’s not sharing touches with another superstar. We’ve seen Brown put up huge numbers without Tatum beside him at times. Now Tatum gets his chance to prove he can carry a team alone.
One thing is for sure: the Celtics’ title run proved the duo worked. Everything else is just talk.
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