Boston Celtics
“‘You traded him down the street?’ So, I was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world.”
The 2026-27 NBA season is already off to a drama-filled start — especially when it comes to Jayson Tatum and his former teammate, Jaylen Brown.
As part of a new video series released by Tatum, the Celtics star forward addressed Brown’s shocking trade from Boston to Philadelphia in July.
In the video, Tatum said he found out about the trade the same way many NBA fans did—via ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. However, Tatum found out from Charania in person.
“We [were] in Vegas. I just got done playing pick-up the first day. Shams walks over,” Tatum said. “He hands me the towel and he’s like, “Yo, put this over your face. Don’t react. They just traded him.” I’m like, ‘Oh [expletive]’ I’m like, ‘Where?’ He said, “Philly.”
“‘You traded him down the street?’ So, I was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world.”
Brown — taking to social media late Thursday night — seemed to have a different stance on Tatum’s comments about the trade and his shock at Boston dealing away his longtime teammate.
In a Bleacher Report Instagram video featuring Tatum’s comments on the trade, Brown responded from his own Instagram account with an emoji of a blue baseball cap.
For those who aren’t up with the slang, “cap” — and the matching emoji — represents a lie, exaggeration, or something else that isn’t true — with “no cap” signifying something that is true.
Brown’s retort might lend credence to the belief that Tatum was aware that the Celtics were going to trade Brown this past offseason.
Granted, that also might have been validated by the several trade rumors linking the 2024 NBA Finals MVP to Giannis Antetokounmpo in the weeks leading up to the blockbuster trade with Philly.
So far, Brown seems to have plenty to be happy about with his new spot with the Sixers, who are 2-0 on the season following wins over the Knicks and Cavaliers.
Brown helped Philly erase a 29-point deficit in their home opener over Cleveland, scoring 21 points with eight rebounds and four assists.
Tatum and Brown’s relationship and the ramifications of that July trade will likely be an ongoing storyline this season — and potentially for years to come.
As part of his vlog, Tatum expressed plenty of gratitude when asked about his nine-year run with Brown — with the duo winning a championship together in 2024.
“I very much have been transparent about how thankful, I personally am, for our relationship, and what we were able to accomplish over nine years,” Tatum said. “Talk about 2017 to 2025-26. Jayson and Jaylen. You won’t ever be able to talk about one of us without the other. Just our ability to grow up as kids. And go through our ups and downs. And people talking about one of us had to go. And we couldn’t win together. There was a lot of [expletive] that we had to deal with.
“I will always say I knew every time I stepped on that court that when it was time to go to war, I looked to my left and my right and number 7 was over there, I knew that he was going to do whatever it took for us to try to win,” Tatum added. “The way we pushed each other. I definitely made him better and he made me better. And we made our team better. We made this organization better. We won a championship. We are forever stitched in stone in NBA history. We held up that trophy. It won’t ever be forgotten.”
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
