Boston Celtics
“It didn’t change [my] reaction if anybody else won [Finals MVP]. But that isn’t always the case when the shoe is on the other foot.”
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had some great years together with the Boston Celtics, culminating in an NBA Championship victory in 2024. But the end of their time as teammates appeared rather rocky. And the separation hasn’t gone any smoother.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews reported that Brown and Tatum haven’t really spoken to each other since the former was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers this summer. They appeared on opposite sides of the TD Garden court for the first time as foes earlier in the NBA preseason, and noticeably had no interaction — or at least not publicly.
Brown has been friendly with other Celtics post-departure from Boston, and was seen chatting with Ron Harper Jr. and Baylor Scheierman during Friday’s Celtics-76ers matchup. But not Tatum.
And, in a recent interview, Brown appeared to take a subtle shot at Tatum’s reaction to his Finals MVP trophy.
“I didn’t play to win an award. When they gave me MVP — they gave me two MVPs, by the way — just for those, you know what I mean,” Brown said. “But when I won, I was never expecting that, I didn’t care nothing about that. … So when I won, I was shocked. You can see it on my face that I was shocked, and it didn’t change [my] reaction if anybody else won.
“But that isn’t always the case when the shoe is on the other foot.”
You be the judge, but it certainly appears Brown was implying that Tatum wasn’t thrilled to be passed over for Finals MVP in favor of Brown. The duo each did their damage in the championship-clinching series, and the trophy could have gone either way, but Brown definitely had a bit of an edge over Tatum statistically.
This isn’t the first time Brown has made some eyebrow-raising comments this year. Shortly after Boston was eliminated from the postseason, Brown called the season “his favorite” as a player, because he was able to showcase his true talent.
Notably, that showcase happened because Tatum missed nearly the entire regular season rehabbing his torn Achilles.
Brown and Tatum’s relationship was never in the public eye, so how close they are — or aren’t — isn’t likely to be known. But it appears that at least for the moment, the once-great Celtics dynamic duo isn’t playing too friendly in their first season apart.
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