Jayson Tatum would like everyone to stop making a big deal about his relationship with former teammate Jaylen Brown.
On Friday, the Boston Celtics star found himself once again discussing the trade that sent Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers and ended a nine-year partnership in Boston. Brown has made no secret about his displeasure over the trade.
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That displeasure popped up in an Instagram comment section on Thursday night, in reaction to a video of Tatum saying he was as surprised as anyone by the trade. Brown’s comment of only a single emoji: cap.
In other words, Brown was accusing Tatum of lying.
That’s an awkward look, no matter how you cut it.
Tatum was asked about the comment after the Celtics’ 107-103 win over the New York Knicks on Friday and did his best to downplay the drama to reporters, going as far to invoke the infamous feud between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant once the Los Angeles Lakers traded the former:
“This ain’t no f***ing Shaq and Kobe. There’s no beef. It’s not about that. It should be more praise. I understand that don’t necessarily sell and drama gets clicks and views, but that’s not my thing.”
The Brown trade, which netted Paul George and a collection of draft picks for the Celtics, is unusual in a few ways. Most unusual is a contender sending a 30-year-old All-Star to an Eastern Conference rival. Brown had also just carried the Celtics for much of the 2025-26 season while Tatum was recovering from an Achilles rupture.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown played nearly their entire careers together.
(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)
Tatum and Brown won a championship together, but there were always questions about whether the Celtics wanted to carry two wings on supermax contracts in the long term, especially as Brown got older. Tatum still described the divorce as painful at the time.
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On Friday, he tried explaining that he doesn’t enjoy the drama in public, even if the comment from Brown’s account is what got this started:
“I understand we’re in the entertainment business. Me personally, I’m not much of an off-the-court entertainer type of guy. I don’t have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him and I think the frustrating part is since he’s not with the Celtics anymore, the narrative or conversations haven’t been enough about what we’ve accomplished, all the games we won, winning a championship, how we’ve grown together.
“It’s turned into this drama type of thing. I got two kids. I reached out to him the day he got traded, I called him, I texted him and I understand people process things differently. At this point in our lives, we’re too old to be having our relationship discussed X, Y, Z on the internet. If there’s a conversation to be had, we can definitely have that conversation. I welcome that. I’ve always wanted the best for him and wished the best for him. I’ve always publicly said those things. I see all these things, ‘Get your popcorn ready,’ like it’s a f***ing boxing match. I play basketball.”
The Celtics are now 1-1 after that win over the Knicks, while Brown’s Sixers are 2-0 following a thrilling comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers. With both teams set up as contenders in the East, this won’t be the last time we hear about this trade and relationship.
There are less than three weeks left until their first direct clash on the court, as the Celtics are scheduled to host the Sixers on Nov. 10.
